Special relationship remembered on Everest anniversary   29 May 2016

Hon Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga

Minister for Ethnic Communities

29 May 2016

Special relationship remembered on Everest anniversary

The Minister for Ethnic Communities, Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, has remembered the special relationship between New Zealand and Nepal on the anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.

“Today marks the 63rd anniversary of the ascent of Sagarmatha (Mount Everest). Our two countries started on a special journey on 29 May 1953 when the two men famously, in the words of Sir Edmund, ‘knocked the bastard off’,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

The special relationship embodied by the two men is being remembered today by the Nepalese community and New Zealand mountaineers as they mark the anniversary of the first ascent of Mt Everest.

“Like close friends, New Zealand and Nepal are there for each other during good and bad times. When earthquakes struck our two countries in 2011 and last year, we were there to help and support each other. Trade, education, tourism and a passion for climbing bring us together in good times,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

“Sir Edmund set up the Himalayan Trust in the 1960s. The Trust has inspired many New Zealanders to help bring quality education, safe water, and better healthcare to the region. New Zealand climbers still flock to Sagarmatha each climbing season.”

“New Zealand mountaineers and the Nepali community are gathering in Christchurch today to remember Sir Edmund and Tenzing Norgay and to salute New Zealand’s mountaineering heroes,” Mr Lotu-Iiga says.

Sir Edmund was patron of the Non Resident Nepali Association of New Zealand from 2005 until his death in January 2008.

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