First Minister Of The Crown To Present Entertainment Awards

The Minister of Maori Affairs, the Hon Tau Henare, will be the first Minister of the Crown to present an award at the Clear Music and Entertainment Awards, in its current format, at the Aotea Centre in Auckland tomorrow night.

Mr Henare will co-present the Mana Reo award with well known actor Temuera Morrison.

The Mana Reo award is one of 12 televised presentations that will be broadcast delayed on TV3 on Saturday night.

"Maori music has been at the cutting edge of contemporary Kiwi music giving the local industry a distinctive New Zealand flavour for a number of years.

"Maori language in all its beauty and oratory finesse has been a key ingredient of that success and it's for those reasons I welcome the opportunity to present this award which recognises the significance of reo Maori in today's modern world," said Mr Henare.

The Maori language is now recognised as an official language of New Zealand.

"Recognition of te reo Maori through awards such as this pay homage in a small way to the pioneers who have promoted the importance of Maori language over the years," he said.