kia oran.

1896 in E. E. Morris Austral Eng. (1898) 247 You will hear any day at a Melbourne bar the first man say Keora ta-u, while the other says Keora tatu... These expressions are corruptions of the Maori, Kia ora taua, ‘Health to us too!’ and Kia ora tatou, ‘Health to all of us!’

1905 W. Baucke Where White Man Treads 273 Kia ora, oh coloured brother!

1914 A. A. Grace Tale of Timber Town v. 32 The digger put his pint to his hairy lips, [and] said, ‘Kia ora. Here's fun.’

1933 ‘E. Milton’ Waimana ii. iii. 82 Good-byeee, and kia-ora!

1938 R. Finlayson Brown Man's Burden 66 They smiled sweetly and said ‘Kia ora’, as they bought bunches of the bitter cherries.

1966 G. W. Turner Eng. Lang. in Austral. & N.Z. viii. 169 Some of these [sc. Maori terms] seem to have been commoner in the past than they are now, e.g. Kia ora ‘good health’, more often seen in England (as a brand name for soft drinks) than in New Zealand now.

1970 N.Z. Listener 12 Oct. 12/5 I heard her soft, sad voice: ‘This is the kia ora, Dave.’