What a week it has been. The attacks on Christchurch mosques by a racist terrorist, apparently intent on gaining notoriety and starting a race war, has shaken our country to its core. It's forced a lot of introspection and self-examination as we try to make sense of senseless killing. I don't want to get into the attack itself or the causes of it here, but the grieving process and the sense of a nationwide sense of purpose - to stand with the Muslim community, who were the target of the attacks.

This isn't opportunism on our part, but this has long been a theme of our campaign. Until this past week, though, I hadn't been able to put my finger on it, how to express it in a word. Kotahitanga means unity and solidarity, to my mind that captures what we're about. The unity created from this tragedy and the solidarity with our Muslim community has been heartening, and it's emblematic of where we can go from here.

The tragedy in Christchurch must lead us to better things. Out of our darkest day should come great sunlight, especially onto unsavoury aspects of our society today and our history, areas that until now I suspect we have been unwilling to confront.