Kia ora. Greetings

I am absolutely delighted to receive this honour. I would like to thank the Arts Foundation of New Zealand for having the vision to recognize artists in mid-career, and their contribution to the rich cultural life of Aotearoa--New Zealand.

I have a great deal of job satisfaction. My default setting is 'story teller', and I practice this vocation in a number of ways, chief of which is in Theatre--acting, directing, and teaching. I have always done this, I've never done anything else. I've never been a waiter.

I have had extraordinarily good fortune, but I have also never taken any of it for granted. I have always known that the integrity of the work--its higher purpose, if you like--is crucial to affecting change in people. And that, I believe, is the prime directive of all art.

To receive this honour tonight is extremely gratifying. It came unlooked-for and from somewhere other than the theatre community in which I thrive.

It is this recognition and its attendant sense of respect that is important here.

The cultural and artistic life of our people is a health issue. Recognizing our artists is to promote this idea.

No art, no culture--no spiritual existence.

I am proud to be counted among my fellow laureates as a contributor to the spiritual life of the country.

And I am humbled in the face of respect.

I walk a path which is right for me--that it involves hard work, passion, and a sense of social responsibility is no small thing.

So, here in my mid-career, my mid-life, I have this marvelous energizing spur to keep walking this passionate path, with an eye to the higher purpose.

Thank you. I am thrilled. I am honoured. I am an Arts Laureate!

Michael Hurst