Ruth Richardson wows graduates with Midnight Oil

massey-university

Wed May 10 2006 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Ruth Richardson wows graduates with Midnight Oil

Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 1:30 pm
Press Release: Massey University

She preached Australian-ism, played Midnight Oil music to the audience and name-dropped Fat Freddy’s Drop as her favourite band of the moment.

Former finance minister Ruth Richardson virtually stormed the stage of Massey University graduation ceremony this morning, advocating nation-building, business-building, personal and family and well-being.

Many of the Business graduates were clearly stunned by her address, which included Ms Richardson’s guide for personal development and well-being. She told them to exercise daily for an hour. She herself had been in Palmerston North’s Lido Pool this morning, and planned to run through Wellington tomorrow before swimming again in Napier on Friday.

She slated the Christchurch Press (her local newspaper) as “typically only good for coverage of the Crusaders, with much of the rest of the content devoted to lurid an detailed crime reporting”.

She did, however, read the New Zealand Herald, the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times daily, and The Economist weekly as well as “a wide range of books to feed my mind and soul”. We need to see ourselves as perpetual students, she told the new graduates. “Reading is our windo9w on the world.”

“Every serious Kiwi should be conversant with all things Australian – and that means much more than knowing the results of the weekend reugby codes.”

And she finished to the sound of Aussie rockers Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion,

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Massey University on InfoPages.