The Race Relations Commissioner, Joris de Bres, awarded Aperahama Hurihanganui representing Rotorua Boys’ High School, the top prize at the Race Unity Speech finals in Auckland on 10 April.

Mindy Hu representing Chilton St James School, Wellington, was runner up. Aperahama’s speech was delivered in te reo Māori which made him the first participant to win it in te reo. His speech and Mindy’s will be able to be viewed on the Human Rights Commission website.

Initiated in 2001 by the New Zealand Baha’i Community to commemorate Race Relations Day, the Race Unity Speech Award is supported by the Human Rights Commission, New Zealand Police, and the Office of Ethnic Affairs. This year marked the 10th anniversary of the nationwide speech contest and plans are underway to commemorate this milestone later this month in Wellington.

The Speech Award challenges school students in Years 11, 12, and 13 to consider various aspects of racism and to suggest what can be done about it. For 2010, the speech topic was ‘Diversity in the human family’. Contestants from throughout the country were invited to prepare a 7-8 minute speech on the topic.

Please contact Bev Watson if you would like to learn more about the speech contest.