The Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) 2019 Conference and Excellence Awards was held from 7 to 9 July in Wellington, New Zealand. Mayors, councillors and other relevant local government officials from all around New Zealand attended this conference.
The conference featured keynote addresses by the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the Minister of Local Government, and sessions by various officials about local government issues such as environment, housing, and localism.
It also had booth area featuring relevant institutions and was a great opportunity for networking. CLAIR Sydney ran a booth to provide information about our recent activities, opportunities such as the Local Government Exchange and Cooperation Seminar, upcoming notable sports events (in particular the Rugby World Cup 2019, 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games and World Masters Games 2021 KANSAI) and Japanese tourism destinations. Significantly, we had an opportunity to explain about CLAIR and sister city relationships between New Zealand and Japan to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
We were honoured to meet many people who attended our booth. Alumni of the CLAIR Local Government Exchange and Cooperation Seminar and mayors and councillors whose councils have sister city relationships with Japanese local governments also kindly visited our booth.
Thanks to this event, CLAIR Sydney was able to strengthen our relationship with many local governments in New Zealand.
We aim to continue to learn and research about the current challenges and best practices of New Zealand local governments, strengthen our relationships and support Japanese local governments.
From the 3rd to the 13th of December, eight selected swimmers from the Fukuoka Swimming Association visited NSW, where they participated in joint training sessions with a local school and competed in the 2024-25 Speedo NSW Senior State Age Championships.
