Student Advocates for Race Unity
Media Story by Catherine Groenestein, Taranaki Daily News - The Post
Inclusion must be lived, says Race Unity Speech Awards 2026 Taranaki regional champion Lukas Strohmeier, who won an advocacy award at the national final in Auckland. Photo: Race Unity Speech Awards
This year, a Taranaki competitor won the award for advocacy at the Race Unity Speech Awards.
Advocating for race unity is a skill Taranaki student Lukas Strohmeier has nurtured over three years of entering a national speech competition.
This year, he was awarded the Tohu Aumangea - Hedi Moani Memorial Award for Advocacy at the finals of the 2026 Race Unity Speech Awards held recently at Nga Kete Wananga Marae MIT in Otara Auckland.
It was the second time Strohmeier, a year 13 student at Francis Douglas Memorial College, had won the Taranaki regional competition.
"Inclusion must be lived. Not performed. Racial unity begins not with optics. It begins with listening, and with acting on what we hear. I speak today not because I have all the answers, but because I know silence cannot be one of them," he said in his speech.
The award is for a speaker who demonstrates how to stand up for our rights and the rights of others.
"Lukas presented his speech very clearly with concise pathways to advocacy and action for us all, as a country to take up this challenge." said judge Dr Adel Salamzadeh from the Hedi Moani Charitable Trust.
New Zealand Police Assistant Commissioner Tim Anderson, chief judge of the national final, said the police were proud to be a principal partner and sponsor of the awards since 2008.
"All of the students were very humble, they showed their vulnerability and their speeches were very honest. It's tremendous to witness the courage from our rangatahi as they speak from the heart and give us the gift of their thoughts we feel enriched from that experience."
This year's theme "Listening to Understand Whakarongo kia Marama", focused on creating an environment of respect and trust across diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
Strohmeier, whose mother is from South Africa and father from Austria, spoke about the need to ask questions, and listen, rather than judge others.
He said was inspired by his mother, a social worker who grew up under apartheid.
"Her strength, resilience and kind nature inspire me to follow her footsteps and become a better person."
Currently working part-time in a supermarket, Strohmeier was planning to begin studying law in Wellington next year, as a first step towards a career in international law or diplomacy.