Waharoa unveiling

To view images from the ceremony, click here

Mihi and acknowledgements

E aku rangatira e pae nei, Māori, Pākehā, ngā Mēa Te Morehu Hoia, Ngā Iwi o Te Tauihu o te Waka a Māui: Te Atiawa; Ngāti Rangitane; Ngāti Toa Rangatira; Ngāti Kuia; Ngāti Rārua; Ngāti Koata; Ngāti Apa; Ngāti Tama.  Tēnā koutou katoa. Ki te hunga kua wehe, Ki tua o Paerau, Moe mai i roto i te Ariki.  Ki te kaupapa o tēnei rā, Te Waharoa maumahara, Tēnā koe, Kia ora tātou katoa.

Hon Dr Nick Smith, Minister for the Environment and MP for Nelson; Hon Maryan Street, MP; Your Worships Aldo Miccio and Richard Kempthorne, the Mayors of Nelson and Tasman respectively; Barney Thomas, Chair the Whakatu Marae Waharoa Committee and your fellow committee members from the region’s iwi; Geoff Mullen, Nelson City Council Kaihautū; Representatives from the Italian Embassy, the Italian Rugby Team and the Federation of Italian Rugby; Representatives from the New Zealand Defence Force and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association; Distinguished guests otherwise, members of the 28 (Māori) Battalion Association, particularly the surviving members of the Battalion and your families, including I understand, Henry Norton; Ladies and Gentlemen.

Thank you for inviting me to unveil this Waharoa that marks the service of the members of the 28 (Māori) Battalion who hail from the top of the South Island.  As Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, and because of my association with the 28 (Māori) Battalion over the past 12 years, it is an honour to be here. Before revealing the Waharoa, I would like to speak about the significance of this unveiling.

The Return of the 28 (Māori) Battalion

History records that the 28 (Māori) Battalion returned to New Zealand aboard the Dominion Monarch on the 23rd of January 1946. The first contingent had departed New Zealand more than five years earlier, and reinforcements had joined the Battalion throughout the war.  Paraphrasing the words of their song, the Battalion had “taken the mana of the people with them” and returned. 

They had fought with valour and distinction in Greece, Crete, North Africa and Italy.  As their commander, and my predecessor as Governor-General, Lieutenant General Sir Bernard Freyberg, famously wrote: “no infantry battalion had a more distinguished record, or saw more fighting, or, alas, had such heavy casualties as the Māori Battalion.”

History also records that the Battalion received a tumultuous welcome home.  There was much whaikorero, haka, waiata and with the lifting of tapu the men and guests sat down to enjoy a good kai.  The official history of the Battalion, published in 1956, concluded with the following words:

“Trains throughout the afternoon carried the Māori soldiers to a hundred welcoming maraes. The 28th (Māori) Battalion had ceased to exist.”

In a strict military sense, historian Joseph Cody was right when he wrote those words.  The Battalion had been disbanded and it was no more.

In a wider sense, however, he was quite wrong.  The mana of that valiant fighting force endured and has been carried forward by the 28 (Māori) Battalion Association—warriors, whanau and friends.

The Battalion’s legacy

It is an unfortunate reality that 65 years after they were welcomed home as heroes, only a few of the men who fought with the Battalion remain. 

Yet as their numbers dwindle with each passing year, their inspirational service has left a lasting and living legacy.  It is a legacy that has many strands.

Like all New Zealanders who served in the Second World War, the Māori Battalion fought for God, for King and for country—“aue”—against the evils of a totalitarian regime.

Many paid the ultimate sacrifice. Their defence of the freedoms and values that we as New Zealanders continue to enjoy is a taonga to us all.

That gift has been upheld by the sailors, soldiers and airmen and women of the Navy, Army and Air Force in Japan, Korea, Malaya, Viet Nam and other conflicts.  It continues to be defended overseas today by the New Zealand Defence Force, often working under the banner of the United Nations, to bring peace to troubled lands.

The character of the Battalion was also shown in how they fought.  They were regarded as the most courageous of soldiers, and worthy opponents by the men they fought against. 

Wherever they went, they also built warm relationships with the local people they met, especially in Italy. The presence here today of representatives from the Italian Embassy, Italy’s Rugby World Cup team—the Azzuri—and New Zealand’s Italian community speaks of those lasting connections. Many of the soldiers came home with a good grasp of Italian, and they were certainly well versed in Italian songs and wine!

The living legacy of the Māori Battalion was a new generation of leaders for Māoridom in the years that followed the war.  Men such as James Henare, Charles Bennett, Rangi Royal and Rangi Logan, to name just a few, provided an example for others.

Having paid the price of citizenship, they could lay the groundwork for the renaissance of Māori culture, tikanga and te reo.  Sir Apirana Ngata, the father of the Māori Battalion, regarded the leadership nurtured through service as one of the Battalion’s greatest legacies.  In 1949, he wrote:

“[They are] busy in laying the foundations of living in a more difficult world than we knew half a century ago.  They will reinterpret the Carroll injunction to keep their Māoritanga alive.  They will maintain its individuality and spirit in the make-up of the future New Zealander.  You will have lived in vain, if they do not continue to be imbued with the restless, curious and adventuring spirit of their Polynesian ancestors.  I am well satisfied with them and only envy them the adventures that surely lie before them.”

Conclusion

In conclusion, this magnificent Waharoa binds the many strands of the 28 (Māori) Battalion’s legacy.  Tūmatauenga, the god of war on one side, and Rongo, the god of peace on the other, symbolise the service of the Māori Battalion in war and in the peace that followed.  Its placement here at an entrance to ANZAC Park, links the service of the Māori Battalion, with the service of the many other New Zealanders who have served our country, and especially those who have died in the service of their country and whose names are inscribed forever on the park’s Cenotaph. 

Most importantly, however, this Waharoa forms a lasting link and memorial to those who served in the Māori Battalion and whakapapa back to iwi from the top of Te Tau Ihu o Te Waka a Maui.  That is what we acknowledge today.  So on behalf of us all, I thank everyone who has been involved in supporting this special tribute to some special men.

Lest we forget.  Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.