Hawke's Bay students give strong speeches to head to national Race Unity Speech Awards

Ethin Templeton practises his speech ahead of winning the second heat in the Hawke's Bay competition. Photo / Supplied

After a different and new format for many speakers, two Hawke's Bay students have made their way to the nationals of the New Zealand Race Unity Speech competition.

Year 13 student Ondre Hapuku-Lambert and Year 12 student Ethin Templeton, both from Karamu High School, won each of their individual heats, at an online version of the NZ Race Unity Speech competition's regional section.

The competitors advance to the national semifinals, also being held online during Youth Week, May 11-17.

Eight students from Karamu, Napier and Hastings Girls' High schools competed over two nights in heats of four online to comply with the Covid-19 lockdown.

The students said it was a strange experience to speak to a blank screen instead of a hall of people.

Hapuku-Lambert, head boy of Karamu, won first heat and during his speech called everyone to "accept, respect and embrace diversity" in reference to the range of peoples of varying religions, languages and cultures for whom Aotearoa is home.

"We are the ones that give racism life in Aotearoa, therefore, we are also the ones that hold the power to eradicate it in Aotearoa. Learning from past racial movements in NZ, I see there are three important things we need to eradicate racism in our motu [country]: Education. Courage. And Unity."

Templeton took out the second night's top award with dramatic gestures reflecting a strong message of social justice.

"A passionate speech makes a good speech, and this is a topic that I am deeply passionate about," he said.

"I really do believe that racism and xenophobia is the hypocritical strand of flax woven into our kete of Kiwi culture."

Margot Macphail, one of the co-ordinating team of the Hawke's Bay awards, said all eight speakers brought passion, deep thinking and a strong knowledge of Aotearoa/New Zealand history to their speeches.

"It is inspiring to hear young people express such well-reasoned challenges and commit to an issue as complex as race unity," she said.

"Their efforts generate meaningful conversations in classrooms, studies, courtyards and homes essential to a thinking and caring society."

Hawke's Bay is the only region outside of Auckland to have taken the top national award two years in a row. In 2017 Tauawhi Bonilla from Te Aute College won the National Award and then Hena Dugh from Hastings Girls' High School won in 2018.

Initiated by the NZ Baha'i Community and held annually since 2001, the Race Unity Speech Awards have been applauded by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern for providing young people with a space to deepen their understanding of race relations issues and share their views on how to promote unity in Aotearoa.

This year the Māori Language Commission, Speech NZ and the Office of Ethnic Communities joined the NZ Police and Human Rights Commission in sponsoring the awards.