Senior high school students from Tauranga and the wider Western Bay of Plenty will compete in regional heats of the Race Unity Speech Award on Tuesday, March 26.

The students have seven to eight minutes to deliver their speeches in either Maori or English with the topic focussing on ‘My Dream for Aotearoa New Zealand.

In preparing their speeches students are required to consider the following quotes:

‘Kotahi te k?whao o te ngira e kuhuna ai te miro m?, te miro pango me te miro whero.

There is but one eye of the needle through which the white thread, the black thread and the red thread traverse.'

‘Man is intelligent and thoughtful, endowed with powers of mind. Why then should he be influenced by distinction of colour or race, since all belong to one human family?'

Local Regional organiser, Laura Rishworth says the national speech contest, initiated by the New Zealand Baha'i Community, has steadily gained momentum over the past decade.

'In recent years the NZ Police, the Human Rights Commission and the Office of Ethnic Affairs have thrown their support behind it as they see the value in promoting race relations awareness among young New Zealanders.”

The Tauranga Western Bay heat is being held in St Enoch's Church on 16th Ave at 7pm.

Regional winners will participate in national semi-finals in Auckland in April and if successful at that level, go on to the national finals.

Each monetary prize is split equally between the students and the schools they represent.

Contestants also have the opportunity to attend the annual Race Unity Conference where they make recommendations which the Human Rights Commission and the New Zealand Police can subsequently work with.