Unity speech competition is all talk

Senior high school students will be speaking out against racism in New Plymouth’s council chambers next month.

Youngsters from New Plymouth, South Taranaki and Stratford will be taking part in the regional heats of the Race Unity Speech Awards.

The contest, started by the New Zealand Baha’i community in support of Race Relations Day and the Diversity Action Programme, is in its 17th year and takes place in 14 regions across the country.

The contest aims to ‘‘provide a plat- form where young people can freely express their views on a vitally important topic’’, spokesperson Mervyn Chivers said.

Last year’s event attracted 150 speakers from around the country, and the runner-up was Polaiu’amea Kirifi, a student from Francis Douglas Memorial College.

This year the topic is ‘Standing up to racism’ and speeches will be delivered in either Maori or English.

‘‘This speech competition targets youths as champions in promoting racial harmony and challenges them to think of crucial issues facing not just young people, but society in general’’ Chivers said.

The event takes place on April 7 at 7pm and the judges will include representatives from police and human rights commissions as well as chief judge Cara Haque and Te Ingo Ngaia.

The competition will be held in the New Plymouth District Council chambers, and admission is free.

Regional winners will progress through to the national semi-finals in Auckland on May 12 and possibly the national finals the following day.

Contestants will also have the opportunity to attend the annual Race Unity conference where they will be able to delve deeper into race issues.