A Maori mother of two from Okaihau in Northland has won an international peace songwriting competition.
Waatea News reports Frances Osborne-Tau beat hundreds of entries from around the world to win the People's Choice award in an on-line competition, giving her a $300,000 recording contract.
Be a Li'l Happy was the first song she's written and she recorded it using a $5 guitar she brought at an op shop 10 years ago.
She says Oikos Music, the label of Russian-born singer Yulia, will record and distribute Be a Li'l Happy through cable TV networks in Europe and North America as well as through digital download sites.
