Labour leader Jacinda Ardern began her speech to the Labour Party campaign launch by marking the death of Sir Colin Meads, "a great New Zealander."
"Sir Colin will go down in history as a great New Zealand and all of our thoughts are with his family today."
Ms Ardern officially kicked off her campaign telling supporters at the Auckland Town Hall that this was Labour's moment and it was time to "be bold and be brave."
The campaign was attended by more than 1000 people and opened by singer Holly Smith singing Herbs' song Sensitive to a Smile.
Ms Ardern has been leader for three weeks and it was her first major speech to party faithful, buoyed by the surge in the polls since she was elected.
She said in her first three weeks "I've never once felt alone."
"Their question for all of us - for you and for me - is this: now what? One we redouble our efforts. Now we be bold and now we be brave. This is our moment."
"We have some hard calls to make. I will never stop believing that politics is a place where we can do good."
Ms Ardern said she refused to accept the status quo, pointing to the gap between rich and poor, homelessness, climate change, the regions and infrastructure problems.
She also tackled the questions on her economic nous compared to that of Prime Minister Bill English head on.
"You will never hear me question the importance of a strong economy. Never.
"But the major point of difference on economic issues this election is not how long either leader has spent working with Treasury - it's what we use as the signs of success.
"I will always maintain a successful economy is one that serves its people. Not the other way round and that means judging success differently."
She said her priority was children, and Labour would change the Public Finance Act to ensure the number of children in poverty was reported on - as well as deficits and surpluses.
She said GDP rates and "numbers of a sheet of paper" did not tell much about the wellbeing of people.
She said that meant "revolutionising" education.
When she was at school she worked at a fish and chip shop, a gift shop and a supermarket to try and raise money for university without the need for a loan.
"My wages basically kept my 1979 Toyota Corona on the road."
She said she had choices which others did not, which was why Labour's policy was to introduce three years free tertiary education.
Despite rising GDP, she said people should be doing better in term of wages and cost of living.
She also ran through issues such as climate change, the gap between rich and poor and infrastructure.
Ms Ardern paid tribute to Andrew Little, who she took over from.
She said he had given everything to leading the team, pulling it together in two years and setting the groundwork for a campaign.
"You then made one of the hardest calls I have seen someone make in politics. You have always been focused on doing whatever it takes to put Labour in the best position to help others - and that is a legacy I promise to uphold."
She spoke of her own background, joking that her tagline of "relentlessly positive" came from her birth in Hamilton "where everyone is always optimistic that the fog will lift. Literally."
She said growing up in Murupara during the 1980s had given her some understanding of the issues communities faced.
She spoke of the Labour Prime Ministers who had gone before her and what they had delivered - from the welfare state and no-nukes policy.
"For me it's simple: I want to build a country where every child grows up free from poverty and is filled with hope and opportunity."
