It will be great to have a conference so close to home. As I live in Wellington, I can catch a bus to the venue!
It is of course part of my function to reach out to my colleagues, and I look forward to welcoming them to my country. There is an exciting programme and I look forward in particular to the Sharpening Your Teeth course run by André Marin, the Ombudsman from Ontario Canada.
Our New Zealand Ombudsman will host the conference, and I am proud that our Parliamentary Ombudsman are world leaders in the practice of Ombudsmanship.
One of them, has recently been in news over an investigation about school bullying in a local High School. This was a wide ranging investigation and involved the school, the Education Review Office (who are the auditors of school performance in New Zealand), and the Ministry of Social Development. The report was constructive, seeking to provide guidance for schools and the government agencies on how to cope with a very difficult and controversial issue. There was some subsequent publicity that the Education Ministry did not appear to want to adopt his recommendations, and he made it clear subsequently that he was making suggestions and not telling the government agencies that they must make changes. This illustrates the moral suasion aspect of an Ombudsman's power, that we cannot force change but only try to persuade.