Keynote Address, Going West Literary Festival, Titirangi, 09.09.05

Hello, it's great to be here—though, my mother did tell me, 'Never follow Bill Manhire.'

The other thing is, it's strange to be giving this address now, with the election only a week away. 'New Zealand as I find it': somehow we've all had rather too much of that in recent weeks. I can't help being afraid that at any moment Sean Plunket will burst in with, 'Answer the question, Mr Cox: Yes or No?' When I started thinking about what I was going to say tonight, all of that was months away.

Anyway, over the top—here we go: