Jacinda Ardern called for a commitment to peace in her Anzac Day speech at Auckland Domain.
Thousands turned up for Thursday morning's Dawn Service, against a backdrop of heightened security.
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The Prime Minister was emotional as she spoke to the assembled, with the Christchurch terror attack still fresh in her mind.
"Anzac Day reminds us of so many things - sacrifice, loss, the service of others and the need for all of us to continually honour those who served to through our acts of remembrance and our defence of peace.
"But it also reminds us of a singular truth through the ages, through wars past and present - it reminds us of our shared humanity, something we have been reminded of again in the wake of the 15th of March."
Fifty people were killed when a gunman opened fire inside the Al Noor (Deans Ave) and Linwood Ave mosques on Friday, March 15.
Ardern said as the country remembers those who served, we should also commit to shared values.
"Let us recommit to those simple values of freedom, democracy and peace.
"Just as we have never taken for granted the loss of life by those who served on our behalf, so too must we never take for granted these principles."
She shared a similar message on Facebook, in a video recorded from her office on the ninth floor of the Beehive.
"On this Anzac Day we remember all our veterans and their families, and acknowledge and thank all those who continue to serve on our behalf. Today we remember, we commemorate, and we recommit to peace," she wrote in the video's caption.
Newshub.
