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"I will not allow the circumstances into which I was born to determine the limits of my life. I will learn. I will work. I will lead. I will build. And I will leave something stronger for those who come after me. Koinei te rā.

“E koro, Raupatu, rest here. You have brought us this far. I will never forget you. There will be times when I reach for you again and draw strength from you. But today, let the burden fall from our shoulders.”

Te Arikinui has urged Māori to look within their own whānau, and become living and breathing examples of health and wellbeing.

"Aku toa o te Rauora, now it is our turn. Maranga mai rā. Rise. Rise from poverty, from dependency, from the belief that somebody else must determine our future.

There will be successes. There will be setbacks. But we are not powerless. We are descendants of Raupatu. Now let us be champions of Rauora.

"The time has come for our pakeke to guide and strengthen a generation that is courageous, capable and ready. And the time has come to stop believing that our future sits entirely in the hands of government.

"Government has responsibilities. Those responsibilities must be honoured. But we also have responsibilities to ourselves and to those who come after us.

“We must build our own whare. Our reo, our taiao, our hauora and our pā harakeke are foundations for that future. Our Kotahitanga gives us the strength to build it together.”

She acknowledged that government still had responsibilities to Māori, but said Māori also had responsibilities to themselves and those who would come after them.

I LOVE the engagement here!