Tomorrow's leaders stepped out on stage last week at the Ngā Manu Kōrero speech competition, when Invercargill hosted the Otago-Southland regional finals.
In an event regarded as the most significant in the school calendar for Māori pupils, the region's best young speech makers took up the challenge in te reo Māori and English.
Names engraved on the trophies of the long-running competition have gone on to become leaders in the Māori community and society more broadly, an expectation that now passes to this year's contestants.
The Otago Daily Times was at the competition and talked to those involved about why it has remained such an important event.
Te Atarau speech
Maia speech
The South Today - News Story
