N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

SISTER CITIES CONFERENCE
Growing Cultural Diversity in Regions
Ashburton, 30 April – 2 May 2020
See sistercities.org.nz for more information

Investing in relationships - SCNZ Forum
By Toni Grace, SCNZ Director
This August SCNZ held a special working forum for
SCNZ Council and Corporate members. The forum
built on the 2019 conference theme of Prosperity
through Partnership and enabled participants to delve
further into the opportunity to increase the benefits ofinternational relations.
A diverse group of around 25 participants represented anumber of SCNZ members actively engaged in managing
international relationships at a working level, particularly
in international relations or economic development roles.
The group heard first from James Hogan, author of
the recent NZIER report on the economic benefits of
Sister City relations, about the best-practice models,
opportunities and bottlenecks to progress that wereidentified in the findings.
Workshop questions identified some common themes
and questions among SCNZ members, including:•That local government international relations
increasingly engage in activities beyond Sister Cities,
including engagement with the diplomatic corps
and other global strategic partnerships, and theopportunity to share our experiences and networks;•

How some Councils have managed to achieve
multi-sector involvement in Sister City/region
relationships, and the benefits that this brings;•

How to work together across regions and sectors tomake the most of a comparative advantage or export
market abroad;•How do our Sister Cities view us and the benefit thatpartnership with NZ brings?

The forum also included time for sharing best practicecase studies and models between members. The groupheard from Wellington City Council about the Kurimoto
pipeline project, from Marlborough District Council about

their developing viticulture relationship with Ningxia
China, and from The Institute for Global Engagement
about the NZ-China Youth Leadership Summit.
In the afternoon, Forum participants engaged with LGNZ
and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade about anumber of upcoming opportunities and events, including
an update about plans for the 2020 New Zealand China
Mayoral Forum (NZCMF). LGNZ confirmed the next
NZCMF will be hosted by the city of Chengdu on 18 May
2020 and held a workshop to allow participants to give
feedback on the draft agenda.
The group also heard more about the PacificTA
programme, a local government technical assistance for
Pacific Island Countries funded by MFAT and run by LGNZ,
which provides technical exchanges and secondments
between New Zealand and the Pacific.
The Forum wrapped up with a presentation about the2020 SCNZ conference being held in Ashburton from 30
April – 2 May next year, and final closing remarks fromLGNZ CEO Malcolm Alexander. Anyone keen to accesspresentations from the August SCNZ Forum can contact
admin@sistercities.org.nz. SCNZ wishes to thank LGNZ
for their support in providing the venue for this forum.

SCNZ Council and Corporate members attending the August
2019 Forum at the LGNZ Boardroom in Wellington

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

Mayor Tony Bonne, Whakatane District Council

Whakatane District Council staff members

CLAIR Staff Member’s Internship at Whakatane DC
By Takanori Tanimoto
Assistant Director Takanori (Taka) Tanimoto from theJapan Local Government Centre (CLAIR, Sydney), visited
Whakatane District Council for a 10-day internshipprogramme from 5 to 14 August.
Whakatane District Council is located in the Bay of Plenty
region, where many prosperous primary industries are
based.
Taka is on a secondment to Sydney from the Kochi
Prefectural Government. Kochi is well known in Japanfor having rich forest resources, and Taka himself has
a background in forestry. During his internship, Taka
focused on learning about forestry in New Zealand, as wellas learning about various projects, in particular, forestry
related projects in Rotorua, Kawerau and Tauranga.
Taka also paid a courtesy call on Mayor Greg Brownlessof Tauranga as it is a sister city of Susaki City in Kochi,
and they talked about the Yosakoi Festival and its spreadfrom Kochi to the world. During his internship, Taka wasable to learn not only about the primary industries andlocal administration of New Zealand, but also various
aspects of Maori culture. He was also delighted that he

was able to have first-hand understanding about ethnic
diversity initiatives in New Zealand.
Taka is extremely thankful to Mayor Tony Bonne of
Whakatane for kindly accepting his internship request,
Ms Janie Storey at Whakatane District Council forplanning a solid internship program, and Mr Andrew
Illes, Chairperson of the Whakatane District Sister
Cities Committee for kindly offering Taka homestay andaccompanying him on visits to different organisations.
Taka would also like to express his deep appreciation to
everyone he met in New Zealand during his internship.
He strives to become a bridge between New Zealand andJapan through this special experience he had in New
Zealand.
Finally, Taka would like to express his sincere gratitude
to SCNZ President Hiromi Morris for connecting him to
Whakatane District Council. Without the kind assistance,
Taka would not have been able to have the incredible
experience he had at Whakatane District Council.
Tena koutou, Tena koutou, Tena koutou Katoa.

Sister Cities NZ Social Media channels
Those of you who follow the @sistercitiesnz Instagram will know that these past
few weeks we've been focusing on the Japan connection a bit because of the
Rugby World Cup.
Social media is a great way to reach a wider audience than you might otherwise
reach through your standard newsletter type mechanism and to connect withother like-minded organisations by tagging them or sharing posts. Facebook allows
us to directly share your content. Instagram does not. We can only share things
that we know about or have. If you have anything you would like to share let us
know by DM'ing (direct messaging) us through the Facebook page or through theInstagram.
Special thanks to the JET Programme participant in Beppu who allowed us to use
her photos of Beppu Station's welcome display for the All Blacks in exchange for a
few blocks of Whittaker’s Home and Away chocolate.

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019Gansu Province Delegation Visits Canterbury
35th Anniversary of Christchurch Gansu Relationship
By Bernard Duncan, Christchurch China Sister City Committee Chair
2019 marks the 35th anniversary of therelationship between Christchurch
and Gansu Province in North West
China.
This connection was initiated andencouraged by Rewi Alley and in 1984
the then Mayor of Christchurch Hamish
Hay signed an agreement with his Gansu
counterpart.
During the course of this year there
have been reciprocal visits between
Christchurch and Gansu, the first ofwhich saw past leaders of the committee including myself,
visit Gansu to renew friendships, to discuss the evolutionof Rewi Alley’s legacy in China over the last 40 years and toreflect on how the relationship may develop in the future.
In September Christchurch hosted a delegation led by
Gansu’s most senior leader, Party Secretary Lin Duo. It
was an honour to have such a senior leader come to
Christchurch and reflected the great esteem in which Rewi
Alley is still held in Gansu as well as the deep respect andfriendship that exists between Christchurch and Gansu.

To mark the significance of theanniversary there was an exchangeof gifts. Gansu presented the Mayorof Christchurch Lianne Dalziel witha large replica of the famous flying
horse while Christchurch presented
the Party Secretary with a feathered
Korowai (Māori cloak) woven by
Selwyn local Sue Tipene. Both areculturally very significant gifts and will
be appropriately showcased as a way
for people from both Christchurch
and Gansu to learn more about thecustoms and culture of the other.
During his visit to Christchurch and Canterbury the Party
Secretary was given a tour of the upper Canterbury Plains
to learn about how water is allocated and utilised forsustainable food production. This was of great interest to
the delegation given that Gansu is a very dry part of China.
Both visits showed that Rewi Alley’s legacy and memory
continues to be a powerful force for friendship between
China and New Zealand.

Gansu Delegation Visits Selwyn District
By Allison Rosanowski, Selwyn Sister City Committee Chair
On 7th and 8th September, Christchurch City and Selwyn
District Councils hosted a delegation from Gansu
Province to celebrate Christchurch’s 35 years of Sister
City relationship with Gansu Province.
Selwyn also has a Sister City relationship with ShandanCounty in Gansu Province. The Mayor of Selwyn, Sam
Broughton, and the Mayor of Shandan, Mr Lu Sidong signed
an updated Memorandum of Understanding to focus
future relationships on mutual sharing of information in
the areas of education, agriculture and water, tourism andexchanges.
Both of these relationships developed because Rewi Alley,
who was born in Springfield, worked in Gansu Province
establishing schools and cooperatives. His philosophyof “hands and minds together” remains a key elementin Shandan Bailie School which has a Sister School
relationship with Darfield High School.

the Sheffield CPW reservoir and the infrastructure of thescheme. At Fonterra, Ecan’s input was highlighted by Mr
John Sunkell. Ms Catherine Traught further explained theCentral Plains irrigation scheme. Blake Ashton, last year’s
Gansu Fellow, who is Fonterra’s Cream Cheese manager,
was able to give the delegation a short factory tour. Creamcheese is added to coffee, along with cream and syrup: a
new take on coffee in China.
After lunch hosted in a local home the group visited Pauland Ann Jarman’s dairy farm. This was followed by a visit
to Darfield High School to view some of the specialist
facilities.
While the cold temperatures and showers on Sunday madesome of the outdoors visits more difficult, the visitors left
with an increased knowledge of the Selwyn district andChristchurch and renewed friendships.

Gansu Province is located on the Silk Route and is boundedby Inner Mongolia and the Gobi Desert. It is an agricultural
region with sheep, maize and sunflowers. Rewi Alley
imported corriedale sheep from North Canterbury. Some ofthe delegation were able to visit the Sidey farm the sourceof these sheep and view rams ready for export to Uruguay.
The delegation was led by Mr Lin Duo, the Gansu Party
Secretary General, who is the most important leader inthe province. In Selwyn the group visited the Rewi Alley
Memorial Park in Springfield and saw the site of theoriginal Springfield School and school house where Rewi
Alley was born. Mr Geoff Stevenson showed the visitors

Left: Selwyn & Shandan Mayors sign a MoU. Right: Members of
the Gansu Working Delegation inspect Corriedale wool at the
Sidey farm from where Rewi Alley imported sheep

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019Japan New Zealand Business Council (JNZBC)
Annual Joint Conference
By Ian Kennedy, JNZBC NZ Chair
The Japan New Zealand Business Council (JNZBC)
held its 46th Annual Joint Conference in Kashiwa-noha, Japan, on 18-19 September. Attended by over 140
participants, the conference was a great success.
Kashiwa-no-ha was an obvious venue as a ‘smart city’and host to the All Blacks prior to the Rugby World Cup.
The timing of the conference was ideal also with the
New Zealand and Japanese Prime Ministers meeting forgovernment-to-government consultations.
Under the theme ‘Japan and New Zealand: Pathways to
Progress’ the agenda addressed key issues to both sides,
including infrastructure and investment; sustainable
development, renewable energy and forestry; agriculture- functional foods; innovation and start-ups. Discussionof the Maori economy and tourism, and linkages throughrugby, underlined the importance of cultural and sports
exchanges in building the social infrastructure between
the two countries - key to doing business.
Discussion on the current economic situation in bothcountries and the outlook for international tradeunderlined the key importance of the Comprehensive
andProgressive
Agreement
forTrans-PacificPartnership (CPTPP) and the negotiations underway
on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) in providing a firm foundation bringing newopportunities for inclusive and sustainable growth.
The quality of the speakers was outstanding, and theindustry tour of Kashiwa-no-ha showcasing the lead roleof Mitsui Real Estate as developer coupled with visits
to Tokyo and Chiba Universities, provided an excellent
opportunity for delegates to take a first-hand look at thesmart city concept focused on the environment, healthyliving, creativity and communications.
The conference included good time also for informal
business networking during the tea breaks and at the
Welcome Reception and Farewell Dinner. With theconference taking place immediately before the Rugby
World Cup, and in a country where relationships are key

Kashiwa-no-ha school children perform a haka

to doing business, it was great to see the power of sportin bringing New Zealand and Japan closer together. A
robust haka performed by Kashiwa-no-ha school children
at the Welcome Reception was testament to that, and it
was no surprise to learn about the amazing number of'likes’ that AIG is getting in support of its advertisements
featuring the All Blacks in Japan.
The Japan New Zealand Business Council will hold its
47th Annual Joint Conference in Rotorua in October/
November next year - final dates yet to be set. Keep an
eye on the JNZBC website www.jnzbc.com for details.

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

Culture, Cuisine and Cherry Blossoms aWinner in Nelson
By Lyndal McMeeking, Nelson Miyazu Sister City Association
Nelson celebrated the coming of spring and the cherry
blossom in its usual festive way recently with its
annual Cherry Blossom Festival in the splendid Miyazu
Gardens.
Mayor Rachel Reese was on hand to open the programme
which included big brush calligraphy, song, dance,
Japanese puppetry & displays of Japanese martial arts
kendo and aikido. Mayor Reese commented:"It was such a stunning day at Miyazu Gardens for the
17th annual Cherry Blossom Festival. Thank you to the
Nelson Miyazu Sister City Association and the Nelson
Japanese Society for a wonderful festival which was thecoming together of cultures for an amazing celebration.
Community events like this are such a great way tocontinue the relationship between our two cities of
Nelson and Miyazu. We were fortunate to see somevery talented artists and performers on display. Arigato
gozaimasu!"
A feature of the programme was the ‘Sakura Odori’,a specially selected combination of three traditional
Japanese dances performed en masse with the crowd
invited to participate. The dances included Miyazu city’s
official dance ‘Miyazu Bushi’ which was enjoyed live online
by members of a Miyazu-based English speaking group.

Photo: Nelson Japanese Society

Serendipity of Sister City relationships
By Amber Walters, Wellington City Council
In September, I was fortunate to represent Wellington
at the eighth World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF)
summit in Helsinki, Finland.
Helsinki is elusive Santa’s official gateway airport;
home to Moomin, Sibelius and Marimekko; as well as
the award winning and beautiful central Oodi librarywith state-of-the-art wooden architecture. It has no
official sister cities but primarily works with capitalcities.
The serendipity of attending this summit was theopportunity to meet Vice-Mayor Wang Hong, from oursister city Beijing. She was very interested to discuss
our mutual sister city relationship and studied thepictures of Wellington at our booth diligently. She wasmost intrigued by our Zealandia photos of Tui andKowhai which I explained were both unique to New
Zealand and she expressed a desire to visit us in thenear future!
It was a whirlwind week but great experience toconnect Wellington globally as well as meet Mayors,
Deputy Mayors and Council staff from cities all over
the world.

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

Minoh Teachers Visit Sister City Lower Hutt
By Vesna West, Hutt City Council
In August this year two teachers from our sister city
Minoh visited Lower Hutt. Lower Hutt and Minoh Cityin Japan have been sister cities for nearly 25 years.
Next year they will be celebrating the 25th anniversaryof their sister city relationship.
Over the years, the two cities have maintained strong
links and developed different programmes that provide
opportunities for local residents to learn about eachother’s culture, education and way of life. The teacher
exchange programme started in 2016 when two Lower
Hutt teachers visited Minoh and were hosted by theircolleagues from Japan. The following year the Lower Hutt
teachers had the opportunity to reciprocate hospitality.
For this year’s exchange teachers, Anna Mukai and Hiroko
Yabe, this was their first visit to New Zealand. Both Anna
and Hiroko enjoyed their stay here. They appreciated thetime spent at Lower Hutt schools and opportunities tointeract with students, teach them Japanese language andorigami, and talk to them about Minoh City and Japaneseculture. Their most fun memories of New Zealand wereof how outgoing and friendly the school children were,and how happy they were learning how to fold origami.
Anna and Hiroko found it interesting to observe teachingin New Zealand classrooms and activities during breaks.
In Japan, school staffroom is set up as an office where,
during the breaks between the classes, teachers markstudents’ work and prepare for upcoming classes. Theirday often starts at 8am and finishes at 7pm-8pm. Anna
and Hiroko were surprised to see that a staffroom here
is more of a relaxing place where teachers have morning
tea or lunch, talk and socialise. We learned that schools
in Japan don’t employ cleaners; much of the schoolcleaning is done by the children themselves. This is seen
as children learning to respect their surroundings, be
responsible and respectful.
Visiting New Zealand classrooms and interacting withteachers and students made Anna and Hiroko reflect on

their own practices. One of the things they noticed here isthat teachers encourage children to think independently
and use imagination. Anna and Hiroko would now like to
set up more classes focused less on textbooks, and moreon encouraging students’ creativity and independent
thinking.
One great thing about these exchanges is that teachers
can compare the systems, learn new things and takeback ideas they like. They also stay with local families,
experience the local way of life, food and hospitality.
Hosting schools benefit from learning about how things
work in a different country and students have theopportunity to learn new skills. Schools that hosted Anna
and Hiroko enjoyed having them around and sharing
experiences.
Next year, two Lower Hutt teachers will have theopportunity to visit Minoh, learn about the Japanese
education system and explore the area. They will behosted by Japanese families. Expressions of interest forthe programme will be sought early next year.
Top: Anna and Hiroko in the Wairarapa
Bottom left: Anna and Hiroko with Deputy Mayor David Bassett
at the welcome function
Bottom right: Cooking Japanese food for the host family

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

Sister Cities Australia Forum: Engage – Inform - Entertain
By Mike Jakins, Sister Cities Australia National Secretary
On September 19 and 20 the city of Perth, Western
Australia was the host for the 2019 SCA Forum andAGM, the culmination of almost six months of planning.

strongly emphasised that sister city relationships could
be strengthened, where applicable, by connecting withand building off of existing sister state relationships.

SCA received amazing help and assistance from thefollowing: the cities of Belmont, Bunbury, Busselton,
Rockingham and Perth, plus from the Hyogo Prefectural
Government Cultural Centre. SCA also received generous
support from the Parmelia Hilton hotel, the venue for
the Nations Awards Dinner and also the post-Forum
reception. Without all this kind support and generosity,
along with welcome sponsorship from CLAIR, Sydney,
the Forum could not have been the success it was.

Following the address the awards and trophies(including a replica trophy for the winners’ sister cities)
were given in four categories to the following cities:

Along with delegates from fourteen councils, plus
organisations, consuls and government departments
within WA, we also had people from all across Australia- from the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South
Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. There was also an overseas
component with four delegates from the Chinese People’s
Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries in
Beijing attending, the former Chair of the Board of
Directors of Sister Cities International, Mr Tim Quigley,from the USA, and we also welcomed the President ofSister Cities New Zealand, Mrs Hiromi Morris. In all there
were about 70 delegates and special guests.
A special ‘invitation only’ session was held at the City ofPerth Council Chambers on Thursday afternoon to allow
delegates to discuss four important topics in a roundtablesetting. Members of the SCA Executive were facilitators
at each table and all delegates had the opportunity to talkabout all four topics, which were:•

Funding for sister cities programs.

•

Overcoming a negative media image.

•Working within politically charged countries.

•

How do you ‘withdraw gracefully’ from a sister city
relationship?

On Thursday evening, the 2019 SCA National Awards
were presented by the Awards Coordinator, Mrs Jan
Teasdale, and SCA President, Mr Bill Wilson during adinner function at the Parmelia Hilton. A warm welcome
to all was provided by President, Bill Wilson, and an
address was given by the Hon Martin Pritchard, MLC,
representing the Premier of Western Australia. He

Left: forum attendees. Right: Bundaberg, QLD project winners

Category 1 – Community Involvement. Blacktown, NSW- Drought Relief Initiatives
Category 2 – Youth Project. Blacktown, NSW International Youth Connect Project (IYCP)
Category 4 – Trade and Tourism Project. Bundaberg,
Queensland - Economic Development Trade and Tourism
Delegation to Nanning, China
Category 5 – Overall Program. Bundaberg, Qld - 20th
Anniversary Celebrations: Nanning and Port Stephens,
NSW - Strengthening community partnerships withsister cities of Port Stephens
A brief address was given by Mr Hirotomo Akaiwa,
Executive Director, CLAIR, to encourage us to Japan for
the Rugby World Cup (2019), the Tokyo 2020 Olympic
and Paralympic Games, and the World Masters games,
2021, in Kansai. SCA sincerely thanks CLAIR for the theirvery kind sponsorship of the Forum.
For the next day a full program was prepared for theForum delegates and was commenced with a Welcome
to Country performed by one of Perth’s most respected
Aboriginal elders, Mr Barry McGuire. Following
welcomes from the State Opposition Deputy Leader, theHon Bill Marmion, MLA, and SCA’s own Bill Wilson the
opening speaker, Ms Hayley Winchcombe, enthralled
all by sharing a little of her own journey that started
with a student exchange to her home city’s sister city.
After Hayley we heard from Mr Tim Quigley, from SCI,
about the topic of ‘citizen diplomacy’ and how this is
the cornerstone of all relationships and relationshipbuilding – key components of any meaningful sister city
relationship.
In a change from normal forum or conference practice,
the succeeding five sessions were ‘PowerPoint-free’and designed to encourage the speakers to initiate
conversation and discussion so that the delegates also
had an opportunity to contribute to each topic. All five

N E W S L E T T E R
October 2019

From left: Opening speaker Hayley Winchcombe; Tim Quigley (SCI); Hirotomo Akaiwa (CLAIR); Hiromi Morris, Jan Teasdale & Mike Jakins

sessions were facilitated admirably by Mr Adam Penn ourMC, were well received and there were many questions
and comments from delegates during each. The session
topics were chosen to stimulate debate, be thoughtprovoking, and to address issues that seemed to becommon to many councils and sister city committees.
Briefly, the sessions were:
Mayors for Peace – A very interactive panel discussion led
by Fremantle City (Adrian Glamorgan and Elizabeth PO’) andErin and Casper Adson from Busselton. This was to coincidewith International Day of Peace on September 21.
Session 1, Setting up, managing and promoting a Sister
City Relationship. SCA discussed ‘generic’ considerations
for setting up a relationship, led by Mike Jakins, andputting them into practice, led by Jan Teasdale. Hiromi
Morris then presented an SCNZ point of view.
Session 2, Leveraging with like-minded organisations
to enhance relationships, e.g. Arts and Culture. Pauline
Vukelic (Busselton) and Maggie Jiang (Confucius Institute)discussed ways of engaging with other organisations thatcan benefit sister city relationships.
Session 3, Relationships and identifying economic
benefits. Barry Sammels (Rockingham) was on the panel
with Carol McDowall (Bunbury) and Steven McDougall(Perth) to look at how economic benefits can flow from
relationships.
Session 4, Engaging youth and getting someone aged
under-25 on your committee. Lead by Gordon Allen(Blacktown) who eloquently described his city’s excellent
youth initiatives, plus Hayley Winchcombe (Busselton)

and Bryce Hellmrich (Belmont) shared their stories
and how we might engage more with young people likethemselves.
Between Session 2 and Session 3, SCA held its AGM
which had three main parts: the President’s report; theTreasurer’s report; and the election for all positions
on the Executive Committee. One of the committee
members, Mrs Jan Teasdale, did not stand for reelection and has taken her leave of SCA Executive afteralmost 30 years of remarkable service. She will be sorely
missed! The remaining five members were re-elected,
with one positional change, for the next two years but
unfortunately there were no additional nominations tofill Jan’s vacancy.
Therefore, the SCA Executive Committee for 2019/21
is: President: Mr Bill Wilson, Vice-President: Mrs
Christina Despoteris, National Treasurer: Mr Caisley
Graham, National Secretary: Mr Mike Jakins, Executive
Member: Mrs Sim Hayward
To conclude the Forum delegates were invited to join the
SCA Committee for an informal reception.
Did we achieve the aims of the Forum theme?
ENGAGE - Engage with colleagues and discuss important
topics that affect all those involved in sister city
relationships. YES!
INFORM - Inform yourself on the current state ofsister cities in Australia, best practice, innovation andsuccessful projects. YES!
ENTERTAIN - Be entertained and motivated by an arrayof engaging speakers. YES!

> Please click here to read the full story

2019/21 SCA Executive Committee - from left to right: Sim Hayward, Christina Despoteris, Jan Teasdale, Bill Wilson, Caisley Graham, Mike Jakins