The 51 murdered worshippers in the Christchurch Mosques terror attack have been remembered at a national remembrance service, two years since the 2019 shootings.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Governor-General Patsy Reddy joined hundreds of community members at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena on Saturday for the service.
The lost were remembered in song, in prayer, in tears and with defiant pledges to rebuild lives, bodies and community.
The centrepiece of the service was the names of the dead read aloud as their pictures were displayed on a big screen alongside descriptions provided by their families.
For Hussein Al-Umari, it read "Lovely and always helpful from the bottom of his heart towards others. Courageous and loyal till his last breath".
Mr Al-Umari died attempting to confront the terrorist, Australian man Brenton Tarrant, at Al Noor Mosque.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern pledges to combat racism during the national service on the two-year anniversary of the tragedy. Source: AAP
Representatives of bereaved families, affected youth, the injured and the community gave speeches for the hundreds assembled.
Maha Elmadani, speaking on behalf of youth, said living a principled life was just as important as remembering the dead.
"Spread kindness. Spread kindness. That is what we have been taught," she said.
Amid the personal tributes, there were pleas for more action.
Kiran Munir, speaking on behalf of families, lost her husband Haroon Mahmood, who she described as "my best friend of twenty years. my shoulder. my safe place".
Ms Munir said there was an "urgent need to have well defined laws for hate crime and hate speech" as recommended by the Royal Commission and as promised by Ms Ardern during last year's election campaign.
Kiran Munir, whose husband Haroon Mahmood was killed in the attacks, tells the crowd she had lost the love of her life and her soulmate. Source: AAP
"The gaps and flaws in the system in our society are laid bare in the Royal Commission Report," she said.
"There's still a long way to go to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.
"Even so, the wound that gets bandaged and cared for, will heal much faster and better than the one that is not looked after.
"Thank you Aotearoa and the team of five million for being our bandage."
Ms Ardern spoke last, clad not in a hijab as she did in the days following the attack to show her support, but a korowai, a Maori cloak symbolic of leadership.
She pledged to continue to fight racism.
"In the aftermath of the terror attack I heard the stories of women who were frequently harassed because they were easily identifiable," she said.
"Of children whose earliest experiences of racism are in the school grounds.
"We have to ask ourselves, what does it take a create a generation that is emphatic but strong?"
