University of Auckland's annual Jesson lecture delivers unifying vision for NZ

Mike Lee, chairman of the Auckland Regional Council, will deliver this year's Bruce Jesson Lecture at The University of Auckland.

Organised by the Bruce Jesson Foundation and the University's Department of Political Studies, the Jesson Lecture annually honours one of New Zealand's best known political journalists and commentators.

Next month, Mike Lee will present "Strangers in the 21st Century". In an examination of the issues of New Zealand nationhood and the case for constitutional change, he will ask whether New Zealanders have lost their way and now lack a unifying sense of national vision.

Bruce Jesson's widow Dr Joce Jesson, senior lecturer at the University's Faculty of Education, says she is delighted with the choice of Mike Lee as this year's lecturer.

She recalls that Mike Lee and Bruce Jesson were long-time friends and allies on the Auckland Regional Authority, both of them leading the fight to prevent the sale of the city's port.

Dr Jesson believes it is "time to start saying again" those ideas that were advocated by her late husband the need for New Zealand to be more self-sustaining, less Eurocentric and more aware of its cultural and political role in the Pacific.

Mike Lee will deliver the Bruce Jesson Lecture is at 6:30 pm on Monday 6 October at the Maidment Theatre (8 Alfred Street).

The bar opens from 5:30pm.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Donations will be taken for the Bruce Jesson Trust.