Kei aku Mana Nui
Kei aku Mana Roa
Tēnā koutou katoa
Tēnei hoki te mihi o Aotearoa
Ki te Mana o Tākei
Ki te Mana o te whenua nei o Karipori
Mihi mai, karanga mai.
To those who bear noble and enduring authority
I greet you in the name of Aotearoa New Zealand
And to the nation of Türkiye who bears the ‘Mana’
Of the land we call Gallipoli
Let me acknowledge your invitation and welcome.
I’d like to begin by acknowledging: esteemed Ministers and representatives of the Turkish Government; Dr Ömer Toraman, Governor of Çanakkale; and Mr İsmail Kaşdemir, President of the Gallipoli Historic Site Directorate.
Excellencies, distinguished guests, military and diplomatic representatives, and friends gathered from New Zealand, Australia, Türkiye, and around the world – my warmest greetings to you all.
My husband Dr Davies and I are truly honoured to be in Gallipoli to represent New Zealand at this year’s Anzac commemorations. Here at Chunuk Bair, it is a fitting acknowledgement of New Zealand’s deep and enduring relationship with the people of Türkiye that the New Zealand Memorial and the statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk – that great soldier and visionary statesman – stand just a few metres apart.
Each name on the New Zealand Memorial to the Missing, not far from here, represents a life abruptly and tragically ended, a family left grieving at home, and a loss felt across continents and generations.
Over 850 New Zealanders, aged between 17 and 53, are commemorated on the Memorial, alongside many more Turkish and Allied soldiers buried here and across the Gallipoli Peninsula.
Many Turkish, New Zealand, and Australian households had multiple family members serving at Gallipoli, sometimes across generations: fathers and sons; uncles, nephews, and cousins. It is especially poignant to note the eight sets of New Zealand brothers commemorated on the Memorial Wall.
Upon receiving the news of the loss of her two sons at Chunuk Bair, Annie Douglas, the mother of Thomas and George Douglas, said: ‘Both were fine young fellows […] they have done good work for their country, but I expected to get one back.’
The devastating losses experienced by our nations extended beyond the Gallipoli campaign, through several more long years of war – bringing ongoing and compounding grief and fear for families and communities across New Zealand, Türkiye, and around the world.
More than 100 years after the war, a cache of tens of thousands of undelivered letters from Ottoman soldiers to their loved ones was uncovered in the archives of the Red Crescent. The words they contain describe the pain of heavy casualties, separation from family, and uncertainty about the future – and echo the sentiments found in those letters sent by New Zealand and Australian troops from Gallipoli to anxious families waiting back home.
An unnamed member of the Canterbury Mounted Rifles wrote to his family in Christchurch, a few days after the Battle of Chunuk Bair: ‘I feel awfully lonely this morning, and sick at heart. I shall never cease to miss my old friend. I must write to his poor mother at Reedston, Oamaru, this morning. The squadron is sadly reduced in numbers now […] I am afraid it will mean a lot more grief in New Zealand when you get the casualty lists, but we did our job, and did it well.’
On this day, we gather together, in bonds of friendship and remembrance, to honour such men who served our countries so courageously – and those families who bore the immense burden of their loss. Such service and sacrifice continue to be felt, and remind us of the devastating, intergenerational consequences of war.
As Governor-General, on behalf of all New Zealanders, I extend my sincerest thanks to all those who continue to make these commemorations possible. I am both honoured and deeply moved to be here.
Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou. We will remember them.