N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020
PLEASE NOTE: The 2021 Annual Conference to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of SCNZ’sestablishment will be held in Wellington 15th-16th April.

From the SCNZ board:

2020 AGM successfully
navigates through
COVID-19 restrictions
By Ray Wallace, SCNZ Vice-President
The 2020 AGM was for the first time a mix of inperson attendees and Zoom attendees due to COVID-19
restrictions.
Our thanks to Local Government New Zealand forallowing us to hold the AGM in their conference room indowntown Wellington.
The SCNZ Annual meeting this year consisted of thePresident’s Report and the presenting of the Annual
Accounts which were adopted by members. Electionof Officers saw the re-election of Ray Wallace as VicePresident. Board members Marcus Boshier and Donna
Favel retired from the Board after serving 5 and 3 years
respectively. Jan Fitz-Gerald was elected as a new memberof the Board with responsibilities for Youth Development.
Luke Chin and Rex Cavil were reappointed as advisors tothe Board and Kura Moeahu retired as Maori advisor.

There was a good deal of positive discussion aroundthe SCNZ survey to members and the challenges andopportunities SCNZ faces going forward. A one-day
forum will be held in Wellington on November 16th at
Wellington City Council for all members to attend inperson or by Zoom. The focus will be on preparing theorganisation for the future, to look at challenges facing
us as an organisation and what changes in structure
might be needed to ensure SCNZ remains relevant andsustainable in the future.
We hope as many members as possible can join us inNovember.

Farewell to Malcolm Alexander
By Hiromi Morris, SCNZ President
Words can say very little to show our sincere appreciation
to Malcolm Alexander who stepped down from theposition of Local Government NZ Chief Executive at theend of August.
I first met with Malcolm at
the Mayoral Forum held at theGovernment House in 2015. During
the Forum he came to talk to me
and said: “It’s so cool that a small
bunch of volunteers can organisesuch a meaningful event”.
Since then he has been a great
advocate to support our activities

as a regular speaker at our annual conferences andworkshops, providing an office space at their premises
and letting us use their meeting rooms.
I also appreciate his regular advice to me over the last 5years. We were so grateful for LGNZ’s financial support,together with MFAT, for the launch of the NZIER review
in 2019.
I trust that his understanding of our work and commitment
has made a huge contribution to lift SCNZ’s status to anext level. SCNZ is in a much better position due to
Malcolm’s involvement.
Thank you, Malcolm and all the very best wishes foryour future.

N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020

Sister Cities International Holds Virtual Annual Conference
By Carol Robertson Lopez – Chair, and Kevin O’Donnell – Young Professional
Representative, Board of Directors, Sister Cities International
On 8 - 9 July 2020, Sister Cities International (SCI) hosted
its first ever virtual Annual Meeting and Conference,“Reimagining Citizen Diplomacy: New Connections
in a Virtual World,” reaching 2,900 attendees from 49
countries.

in government, business, academia, and the arts covered
the topics of virtual exchanges, city diplomacy during
COVID-19, harnessing arts and culture for diplomacy,
and the future of NextGen involvement in the sister citymovement.

The conference program featured inspiring video messages
from guest speakers, moving musical performances,
relevant and engaging panel discussions, and a Member
Roundtable session where sister cities peers interactedwith each other on the topics of fundraising, partneringwith city officials, and engaging NextGens.

You can find the agenda and a full list of speakers andpanelists on our website. We hope to be able to connect
with members of Sister Cities New Zealand in person,
hopefully in the not-too-distant future! In the meantime,
let’s keep up the good work of citizen diplomacy together.

Our 31 conference speakers included: Karen Pence, Second
Lady of the United States of America; H.E. Shinsuke
Sugiyama, Ambassador of Japan to the United States ofAmerica; and the heads of the United Nations Population
Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Human Settlements
Programme (UN-HABITAT), and the National League ofCities.
One of our sessions focused on showcasing our global
linkages, which included a heartfelt and meaningful
greeting from Sister Cities New Zealand! Thank you
so much to Hiromi, Ray, and Marcus for the wonderful
message.
We were also grateful to the 16 talented artists andmusicians who lent their works to our program, including
Grammy Award-winning singer Dionne Warwick.
Our 4 panel discussions with 13 panelists from backgrounds"The City of San Antonio's Chief Diplomacy & Protocol Officer
Sherry Dowlatshahi (left) moderates a panel of fellow protocol
officers Mark Chandler from San Francisco, USA (second fromleft); Maria Dolores Hernandez Montoya from Guadalajara,
Mexico (second from right); and Stéphanie Jecrois fromMontreal, Canada (right), on city diplomacy during COVID-19"

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial
United States President and Founder of Sister Cities
International, President Eisenhower’s concept of citizen
diplomacy launched in 1956, accelerated the sister city
movement to become the vast network it is today.

base of Capitol Hill. This memorial has several statues andsculptures commemorating President Eisenhower andshowing the trajectory of his life.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial was opened recently
in Washington, D.C. It was designed by world-renowned
architect Frank Gehry in a four-acre urban park at theYou may enjoy viewing the Sister Cities International
video below created by SCI Vice Chair and Board Member,Peter Svarzbein, which includes remarks by President
Eisenhower on the importance of citizen diplomacy.

Click to watch video

Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial. Photo: ArchDaily.com

N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020

Honour for Long Serving Committee Member
By Janie Storey, Governance Support Advisor, Whakatāne District Council
Sister Cities is about people and relationships. SammyWilson has been a Member of the Whakatāne District
Sister Committee since its inception 29 years ago, but
unfortunately due to ill health Sammy has recently hadto resign from the committee.

Mayor Judy
Turner, Deputy
Sister Cities
Chairperson
Councillor
Julie Jukes,
Sammy Wilson
and Deputy
Mayor andSister Cities
Chairperson
Andrew Iles,

As a mark of respect to Sammy and to recognise her
valuable contribution and dedication to Sister Cities, she
recently planted a Weeping Cherry tree at the Japanese
Garden. Mayor Judy Turner spoke highly of Sammy andoutlined the activities that she had been involved withduring that time.
Deputy Mayor Andrew Iles commended Sammy forher dedication and support to the committee over theyears and said that she was instrumental in securing therelationship with Kamagaya which was officially signed inNovember 1997. Sammy also made many lifelong friends
by hosting a number of people from Kamagaya over theyears and was able to meet up with them during two
Mayoral delegation visits to Japan.
Update: Sadly Sammy passed away on Saturday 5
September 2020. She will be missed.

Whakatāne District Sister Cities Committee Members

25 Years of Hutt – Minoh Sister City Relationship
Celebrated
By Ray Wallace, Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust Chairman
The Hutt Minoh House Friendship Trust hosted afunction to celebrate the 25-year celebration between
the Hutt and Minoh City Japan.
Everyone who had been involved in the relationship overthe past 25 years was invited to attend the invite thesmall gathering.
Major public celebrations were unfortunately cancelled
due to the COVID -19 restrictions.

The evening event held at the Dowse Museum in Lower
Hutt was a wonderful success with Japanese singers
performing. The history with a photo montage of therelationship played through the night and Minoh City
members were present via Zoom. SCNZ President
Hiromi Morris presented the Trust with a Certificateof Congratulations and presented a co-responding
certificate to the people of Minoh City through Directorof the Japan information & Cultural Centre Mr Kiyohiko
Hamada who attended theevent.
Trust Chairman Ray Wallace
said the relationship has
been a strong one withmany wonderful friendships
being made over that timeandmanydelegations
visiting
eachother’scities and contributing tothe local economy. The
relationship has three sisterschool relationships and a
Citizen to Citizen monthly
Skype session additionalto the Council to Council
relationship.

N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020

Gisborne Sister Cities Updates
By Jan Calder, Gisborne District Sister Cities Secretary2020 Gisborne Gamagori Photo
Competition – ‘Twentieth Year’
The theme for the Gisborne Gamagori Photo
Competition 2020 is “Simply Green”.
The year started with great gusto – 47 entries wereposted to Gamagori Japan for judging by the citizens
of Gamagori City and the Gisborne District Sister
Cities committee (GDSC) received 25 entries from ourGamagori Sister City.
All was going smoothly with expectations of anothersuccessful year until COVID-19 struck.
During the 102 days at level one, GDSC were able toexhibit the Gamagori photos on the noticeboard ofthe HB Williams Memorial Library, Gisborne. Visitors
to the library were invited to vote for the best fiveof their choice. Photos were then posted back toGamagori.
While Gamagori was experiencing a second wave ofCOVID-19 Gamagori’s Mayor Hisaaki Suzuki requested
that his staff fill in for the public of Gamagori and casttheir vote for their choice of the Gisborne photos.
GDSC received our photos back end of August.
Although GDSC can now display the Gisborne photoentries and prize winners on the notice board at theLibrary, COVID-19 states we are to wait until Level
one to present the prizes because of limited numbers
at any gathering or in any space. So we wait.

Holly Murrell ticks all the boxes for her five top choices from thecollection of Gamagori photos on display at the HB Williams
Memorial Library. Photo: Liam Clayton, Gisborne Herald

COVID –19 restrictions – effects on celebrating Sister City relationships
Mayor Rehette Stoltz, the Gisborne District Council, the Gisborne District Sister Cities Committee and thepeople of Gisborne wish to celebrate the following:> A 30 year relationship with Nonoichi City, Japan
which was signed on 30th March 1990.
Mayor Takaaki Awa (Nonoichi) was to lead a delegation
visit to Gisborne in August consisting of officials,
teachers, students, and friends in August 2020. In
return, Mayor Rehette Stoltz (Gisborne) was to leada similar delegation to Nonoichi in September 2020.
A consistently active relationship, the delegationexchanges have included historical events, education,taiko, tourism, economic trade, rural industries andability to form personal bonds.
That will now be on hold and a “ZOOM happening” isthe current option.
> A 40 year relationship with Palm Desert City,
California USA during 2021/2022
The relationship was signed in Gisborne October 1981

and Palm Desert October 1982.
This also has been a very active relationship involving
many visiting delegations, exchanges that include;
education, city council staff, art and craft, golf,
and personal visits to enjoy many forms of local
hospitality where bonds have been formed. Format
for celebrating 40 years is uncertain.
Both relationships have been involved with developing
gardens within the Gisborne Botanical Gardens.
Mayor Rehette Stoltz, Members of the Gisborne
District Council and the Committee of Gisborne
District Sister Cities look forward to reading in thenewsletter and from the November Forum how
the other Sister City groups in New Zealand arecontinuing their SC relationships on a practical basis,
within the current restrictions.

N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020

South West Festival of Japan in Western Australia
By Carol McDowall, Senior Officer International Engagement, City of BunburyFrom 4 to 12 September
the 3rd annual South West
Festival of Japan washeld in Bunbury WesternAustralia.
TheinauguralSouthWest Festival of Japanwas held three years
ago as part of the 25thanniversary celebrations
with Bunbury’s sistercity of Setagaya, Japan.
Sponsored by the City of Bunbury, Regional Arts
Western Australia, Simcoa, WAPRES, CLAIR (Japan Local
Government Centre – Sydney), The Japan Foundation(Film Festival only) and Moshi Moshi Marketing, the event
is well loved by the Bunbury community.
The aim of the festival is to allow people to interact withJapanese culture through arts, music, film, dance, craftand food. This year the 9-day festival combined severalelements:•••••••••

Japanese Film Festival Satellite
Hanami Picnic Days (held on consecutive Saturdays)
Free workshops in kimono, calligraphy, origami, paper
making and stamping
Paid workshops in Manga, Japanese Sweets making
and Taiko Drumming
Virtual workshop series which included Doingbusiness with Japan, Cooking, Haiku, Japanese teas,
and travel writing and photography using elements ofJapanese aesthetics
Anime Movie screening by the South West AnimeCommunity
Japanese food trucks
Karaoke Night at local pub
Stamp Rally through the Bunbury CBD to localbusinesses

At the Hanami Picnic days the community was invited
to come down to the Stirling Street Arts Centre next
to Bunbury’s Friendship park where the plum trees
were blossoming. Here they could enjoy ‘Hanami’ while
participating in Japanese arts and culture through thefollowing performances and activities:
•••
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Nyamaha Band (all girl cosplay Japanese tribute band)
Bunbury Bel Canto Singers singing Sakura and theSukiyaki song
TIDA Dance Group – Okinawa drummers
Subi Japanese Dance GroupJapanese Tea CeremonyTaiko On drummers
Treendale Primary School Taiko
Karate demonstrations
Kendo demonstrations
Kyudo Demonstrations
Kite flying and kite making
Market and information stalls including: Cosplay,
Bonsai South West, Ikebana from the Bunbury Flower
Group, Japanese handicrafts, ANA info stall, Japan

Local Government Centre stall, Tokyo Underground(Japanese pop culture curios)• Food trucks serving a range of Japanese foods
The virtual workshops were a new component of thefestival this year drawing participants from Canada,
California, Singapore, Italy and India as well as participantsfrom all states in Australia and parts of New Zealand.
These free events were moderated by Bunbury Sister &Friendship Cities and marketing on Eventbrite/Facebookand run through Zoom. During these difficult times, thiswas a great way to bring people of all cultures together tocelebrate what they love about Japanese culture.
••
•
•
•

Yuki Nakamura on doing Business in Japan
Japanese Homestyle Cooking by Sam Bottegal
Japanese Teas with Patsie of Nannup Tiny Tea Shop
The Art of Haiku with Vahri McKenzie
Wabi Sabi and the wonder of the everyday with WillYeoman (link not available yet)

The Stamp Rally was held for the first time in 2019 and wassuch as success the event organiser brought it back thisyear. Instead of using actual stamps as the event did in
2019, they used virtual stamps. Participants could pick up a
free map/passport and go into participating shops to scana QR code and reveal a picture of something Japanese like
‘Origami’, ‘Mt Fuji’ or ‘tea ceremony’. This would be written
on their passport. When all virtual stamps had beencollected the passport could be turned in and drawn to oneof many Japanese hampers. These prizes were donated bysponsors and participating shops and included food, pop
culture items, clothing, tea and more. Not only was this a
fun activity for the community, but it encouraged people
to frequent shops in the CBD and is highly valued by thebusiness community in Bunbury. You can watch how thestamp rally works here.
This festival was a great way to leverage our relationshipwith Setagaya and to bring our two cities closer together
through the arts and culture of Japan. The festival provides
a vibrancy to the general Bunbury community as well as aneconomic benefit to the City of Bunbury through increased
visitation from the region, including Perth. In addition, theStamp Rally encouraged people to go through the CBD
to discover new businesses and experience ‘Japan’ in theCBD. Several shops reported that on Hanami days they had
the highest sales on record.

N E W S L E T T E R
September 2020

New Zealand Chinese Language Week 2020 launches
New Zealand Chinese
Language
Week(NZCLW)
isback,bigger, and better thanever.
Theinternational
environment is rather
different, thanks tothe global pandemic
caused by COVID-19,
but the spirit behind
NZCLW is undimmed.
Now in its sixth year, the Kiwi-led initiative is to be held
across New Zealand between 20 - 26 September this year,
and the theme is A Taste of New Zealand - celebrating
the food and drink links between our Chinese and New
Zealand cultures. There is definitely lots to celebrate
there.
A key part of the week will be Dumpling Day, on September
26, a chance to celebrate the delicious little food parcels
and highlight some of the great producers of dumplingsin New Zealand.
Event registration is now open, and 2020 is alreadyshaping up to be the best Week yet.
Seeking to raise awareness of Chinese language andculture, NZCLW celebrates multilingualism in New
Zealand and recognises the political, economic andsocial advantages of learning Chinese in our increasingly
globalised community.
Mandarin SuperStars are selected to promote thelanguage, from public nominations, and youth

ambassadors are honoured for their achievements.
Co-founder and Chair of the NZCLW Charitable Trust
Jo Coughlan says that last year, New Zealand Chinese
Language Week facilitated and promoted 200 events
throughout Aotearoa.
“This year, we hope to help even more Kiwis ‘give Chinese
a go’ by doubling the number of events. It’s a great excuse
to enjoy some good Chinese food made with great New
Zealand products.
“While we aren’t able to travel between New Zealand andChina at the moment, there is lots of shared history andculture - particularly food culture - to celebrate within
New Zealand. We encourage the public and local business
community to get involved, host an event, and help inspire
New Zealanders to better understand and connect with
our Chinese friends and partners.”
Anyone can organise an event for NZCLW. You may bea teacher, librarian, business owner or are simply keen
to help New Zealanders grow their understanding ofChina. Your event may be held privately at your school orworkplace or can be for the wider public. Learn more atCreativity flourished in lockdown for aspiring artists
With a new digital resource andoutreach to our young ones in lockdown
SCAPE Public Art’s 2020 Re:ACTIVATE
Aspiring Artists competition has threewinning designs that will be exhibitedin central Christchurch this spring.
The students will have their artworks
produced and installed at Hack Circle,
on the corner of Cashel and Highstreets, as part of the Season 2020.
Read more online here.

Winners from left: Yzza Batac, aged 11,Merrin School, Lewis Bradford Consulting
Engineers Director Helen Trappitt, Mollie
Shaw, aged 18, Rangi Ruru Girls’ School
and Annabelle Britt, aged 11, Selwyn HouseSchool.