Retirement of Colonel Bennett

Te Ao Hou, March 1969, Page 28

Malaysian students add their greeting and song at Col. Bennett's farewell Retirement of Colonel Bennett In his farewell speech at Ngati Poneke Hall on 14 February, Col. C. M. Bennett, retiring after 37 years in the Public Service, the last seven as Assistant Secretary of the Maori and Island Affairs Department, made an interesting suggestion. It was that New Zealand should make more use of its Maori population to open up new frontiers in trade and relations with South-east Asia. People with physical and ethnic similarities had a common bond, and from his experience as High Commissioner in Malaysia, he knew of the affinity between his own race and the peoples of Malaysia and South-east Asia. In this field the Maori people had a continued on page 42 Col. Bennett and his wife with members of the Ngati Poneke Young Maori Association. At Mr Bennett's right is Mrs M. Tamehana