Mr Lyons, general gifts chairman of the appeal, said that by world standards Wellington was a small city, but it still possessed features which could not be found anywhere else. When the Ngati Poneke National Marae was completed, Wellington would be in the unique situation of having the Downstage Hannah Playhouse at one end of the city and, at the other, the new Maori cultural and social centre. Mr Lyons said he was helping in the appeal because of the difficulties he could remember experiencing when he came to Wellington from Hawke's Bay in the 1940s in making contact with social and cultural organisations. “If it was difficult for me,” he said, “I could imagine how much more difficult it would be for young Maoris coming to the city for the first time. This is why it is so important that the appeal for funds for the new marae should be supported. “But as well as a marae for Maoris,” said Mr Lyons, “the new marae will be a cultural centre worthy of the city of Wellington. The poet Matthew Arnold once said that ‘culture is to know the best that has been said and thought in the world’. In Downstage and the Ngati Poneke Marae we will have the best.” After greeting the Governor-General, the Prime Minister and Mrs Kirk, the Mayor and Lady Kitts, and other distinguished guests, the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. Manu Bennett, said, “To have the honour and distinction of being the keynote speaker places a very great burden of responsibility in my lap because the issue we deal with today could affect the course of our nation for years to come. “In any discussion on the place of racial minorities, the aspect which drums up most emotional reaction and ire arises from situations in which the minority has been acted against. However, it is now abundantly clear that to protect any minority group from active discrimination alone, is no longer sufficient. In our present situation, as discrimination in the economic and social areas This sketch shows how the new marae will appear from the entrance.