First New Zealand Day
At Waitangi

Speaking at the conclusion of the ‘Aotearoa’ pageant, depicting in two hours the history of New Zealand from the arrival of the first canoe until the present day. Her Majesty the Queen said, ‘Mr Prime Minister, this place has many happy memories for me. I have visited it each time I have been in New Zealand and I am particularly glad to be here, with my family, on this historic occasion.

‘Waitangi will always remain an honoured name in New Zealand's history. The Treaty

signed on this spot in 1840 between Maori and Pakeha was based on compromise and tolerance and has set the keynote for this country's development.

‘Since then peoples from all parts of the

world have come here to make their homes. No one should underestimate the strains and stresses which a mixture of races and cultures can generate. The solution of such social problems cannot be left to chance. There must be a conscious effort to work together to solve them.

‘I do not believe that any country can claim to have made a greater effort than New Zealand to work out a life style acceptable to all sections of a multi-cultural community.

‘New Zealand Day, which we now celebrate for the first time, symbolizes this spirit

of mutual respect for all cultures and the continuing search for understanding between them.

‘We have all seen this spirit in action at the Commonwealth Games. Superb facilities and generous hospitality were provided by the people of Christchurch and it was obvious that they, and indeed all New Zealanders, were proud to be the hosts and glad to welcome so many visitors to their city and their country. And no one who saw the athletes and the officials circling the track at the end of the Games—all barriers forgotten in genuine friendship—could doubt the real value of such gatherings.

‘This is the true spirit of the Commonwealth. It is this friendliness between nations, this comradeship, which I am sure we all

want to see flourish within the Commonwealth family and spread to all peoples of the world.

‘Mr Prime Minister—New Zealand will have an increasingly important part to play in the Pacific and in world affairs. But her voice will only be heard if it comes from a strong and united people, conscious and proud of their Nationhood.

‘You have reminded us that it was twenty-two years ago today that I became Queen of New Zealand. It is also today, on the first New Zealand Day, that I have personally approved an Act of Parliament amending my Style and Title in this country to place New Zealand before all my other realms and territories. I have been particularly glad to do this because The Crown is a symbol of national identity and national unity. May it help you all to live together in peace and prosperity in the years to come.’

In his speech of welcome, the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. N. Kirk, referred to the signing. 134 years before, of the treaty which became ‘the foundation stone of our nation.’ In choosing the anniversary of this treaty as ‘New Zealand Day’, he asked, ‘Do we all realise the special meaning of this choice? Some other nations celebrate on their national day an act of violence, a revolution, a coup, a war. But we achieved our nationhood gradually, peacefully. We have no desperate revolution as the focus of our national day. We remember no martyrs who fought to overthrow a tyrant or to drive out an alien power. We were the lucky country. Independence was handed to us on a plate in the most friendly, gentlemanly, rational fashion. We came to nationhood with no heavy legacy of bitterness, with no old scores to pay off.

‘True, Maori and Pakeha came to blows. But there was valour, and honour, and restraint on both sides. We emerged from this testing period with respect for each other. We were born in peace. And so we commemorate as New Zealand Day not an act of violence but an act of trust, a pledge of co-operation. This is part of our national inheritance. We must not forget it.’

Referring to the people from many lands who came here, he said, ‘Already we are a distinctive nation, unlike any other in the world. And this is so, largely because Maori-tanga—the history, the culture, the life-style of the Maori—is woven as rich gleaming threads in the fabric of our society.’ Speaking of the future, he said, ‘Our future is what we will it—our future is no more and no less than the sum total of our daily actions. Let each New Zealand Day stand as a marker of our progress.’

In her final speech before leaving New Zealand. Her Majesty said how much she and her family had enjoyed the New Zealand Day pageant.