13 October 2005 SPEECH BRIEF

Opening of the Eastern Bay of Plenty economic development agency: Toi - EDA

Jim Anderton opens the new economic development agency office and launches their website at 35 Quay St in Whakatane today at 4.30PM.

Brief points from the speech:

"Toi was the first name of the discoverer of the Bay of Plenty - Te Moana o Toi. The word ‘Toi’ also means ‘to create and innovate’ - something Te Moana o Toi and his people did when they first struck out to settle here in this area. It’s a sentiment this office will build on.

"No one needs to be reminded how urgent our job is here in the Eastern Bay of Plenty. With all of our natural resources and advantages in this beautiful region, there should be opportunities here for any young person. So we have an urgent challenge to make those opportunities into realities…

"Up until a few years ago there was a fashion around that said we could just stand on the sidelines and regions would blossom on their own. So that’s what governments did.

"It was Thomas Henry Huxley who said, 'There is no sadder sight in the world than to see a beautiful theory killed by a brutal fact.'

"The brutal facts killed off the theory of standing on the sidelines," Jim Anderton said as part of his opening speech today.

FULL SPEECH NOTES available at:
4.30pm at www.progressiveparty.org.nz
5.00pm at www.beehive.govt.nz/anderton

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