50th Anniversary of Roxburgh Dam Celebrations

The Honourable Anand Satyanand Governor-General of New Zealand At Celebrations to mark the 50th Anniversary of Roxburgh Dam

21 Oct 2006

Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni.

Greetings:  Your Worship Mayor Dr Malcolm McPherson (Central Otago District Council), David Baldwin (Contact Chief executive), members of the Roxburgh generation team, ladies and gentlemen.

I want to thank for the invitation to visit the Roxburgh Dam and to help celebrate this occasion of 50 years of operation of the Roxburgh Dam

It is certainly a treat for my wife Susan and myself to be in this beautiful part of the country in the middle of Spring.  More importantly, it is a great privilege to be able to take part in such a historic occasion.

The Roxburgh Dam was a project originally developed, commissioned and operated by the Crown for many years.  I would like to pay a tribute to the many hundreds of men who built this huge structure more than 50 years ago.

This enormous project was not without its sacrifices, and I would like to pay my respects to those men who lost their lives working to build this dam.

The Roxburgh Dam symbolises the creativity and the pioneering spirit of early New Zealand.  To take a look around this wonderful structure as it is now - still going as strong as ever after 50 years - it is incredible to conceive that this project was built with the basic tools and technology of the early 1950s.  It is a tribute to the Kiwi philosophy of building things once and building them to last.

The Roxburgh Dam was built at a time when the South Island desperately needed electricity security, and it more than provided for that.  For 50 years the Roxburgh Dam has generated large amounts of clean, renewable energy that has underpinned New Zealand's economic growth.

Today the dam continues to provide enough clean energy to power around 200,000 households and it remains a critical part of New Zealand's electricity system. 

The Roxburgh Dam has become inextricably linked with the town of Roxburgh and of Central Otago.  It is a landmark - one of which we can be proud.  It is a pleasure to be here to celebrate 50 years of operation with you. I wish all of you who have been involved with this dam over the years all the best and hope for another 50 years of clean, renewable energy from this remarkable creation.

Tena koutou katoa.