Dr Oliver Hartwich receives the Deloitte Top 200 Judges’ recognition award
At this year's Deloitte Top 200 awards, Dr Oliver Hartwich received the special Judges' Award for his outstanding contributions to public policy and thought leadership in New Zealand. Watch him receive the award in the video below.
Dr Hartwich was also featured in NZ Herald. Read the article here.
Also, here is a transcript of Dr Hartwich's acceptance speech:
Good evening and thank you for this special recognition. Thank you to Deloitte for sponsoring these awards. Thank you to the judges for acknowledging The New Zealand Initiative in this wonderful way.
When people ask me about our vision at the Initiative, I always remember what German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once said: “If you have visions, you should go and see a doctor.”
Then again, who would take advice from a German?
Well, New Zealanders, apparently.
Now, one has to be very careful with Germans and their visions.
But what the Initiative does have is a clear mission: creating a better New Zealand for all New Zealanders.
And that makes leading the Initiative the best job in the world.
Well, actually, there are two better jobs I can think of: Pope … and Governor of the Reserve Bank.
That is because they are both infallible … though the Pope is not so sure about that.
Still, even without claiming infallibility, I can say that the Initiative has turned research into results over the years.
And none of it would have been possible without our dedicated team. As we all know, it’s he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata.
I particularly want to thank Chelsy Killick – my first hire and the backbone of our organisation.
Chelsy has made our academic ideas work in practice, bringing her dedication and common sense to everything we do.
I want to acknowledge our Board under our chair, Roger Partridge. He had the vision to establish the Initiative and has chaired it from the beginning.
And Roger even had the courage to hire an unknown 36-year-old German from Sydney to run it … a decision which, he assures me, he doesn’t completely regret.
Under Roger’s chairmanship, our Board keeps us on our toes, though they might not always realise how much.
And, of course, I thank our members who have supported our mission from the start.
More than that, over the years, they’ve become my New Zealand family. What started as names on a membership list has become a circle of people I am proud to call friends.
As one of our directors likes to say, somewhat jokingly, if your company still has a pulse, it should be a member of The New Zealand Initiative.
Now, we are here at the Deloitte Top 200, bringing together New Zealand’s leading companies.
As of today, about half of you are members – and that is great.
For the other half, I would be very happy to check your pulse after the event.
The doctor will see you later.
More seriously, I invite you all to join us.
Because what we do matters. We have spent twelve years driving change for affordable homes, better schools, open markets and stronger communities.
And we need everyone in this room to support us on that mission. To create a better New Zealand for all its people.
Because that is what the Initiative is all about – that’s our mission.
And with that, thank you. Ngā mihi nui. Tēnā koutou katoa. Und dankeschön.