In Dame Cindy's final Waitangi Day engagement for this year, Her Excellency hosted the Diplomatic Corps for a very special luncheon in the Tahuaroa Function Centre on the Waitangi Treaty Grounds. The luncheon included moving reflections on the past week at Waitangi, the sharing of kai, and, of course, waiata.
Dame Cindy took the opportunity at the luncheon to deliver her Waitangi Day Address, in which she reflected on the words of Sir Paul Reeves: '"Unity is not oneness. Unity encompasses difference. The search for unity is an invitation not to fear, but to explore what is not familiar." It is my hope that such kotahitanga, such unity, as Sir Paul conceived it, can be our guiding principle as we navigate these times – and it was in that spirit of kotahitanga that my own ancestors signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi, here, on these grounds, 184 years ago.'
You can find more images from the luncheon in the Waitangi Day Luncheon with the Diplomatic Corps image gallery.