Motions — New Zealand Defence Force—Death of Private Kirifi Mila in Afghanistan

I seek leave to move without notice a motion on the death of a New Zealand Defence Force soldier in Afghanistan.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.

I move, That the House express its deepest sympathy to the family, friends, and colleagues of the New Zealand Army soldier tragically killed in a motor vehicle accident in Afghanistan overnight, and to his three injured colleagues.

It is with great sadness that I stand here to mark the death of New Zealand Army Private Kirifi Mila, who was proudly serving in Afghanistan. Yesterday at approximately midday local time a patrol vehicle of the provincial reconstruction team in Bamian rolled off a road and down a cliff in the north-east of Bamian. New Zealand Army Private Mila tragically was killed in the accident, and three of his colleagues were injured. I understand that the most seriously injured soldier has undergone surgery after being evacuated to Bagram. I wish the three injured soldiers all the best for a speedy and full recovery. Our thoughts are with them and their families.

Private Mila is the second New Zealander to be killed while on service in Afghanistan since the first deployment of provincial reconstruction team efforts in 2003. This follows the loss of Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell in August. Private Mila was a popular, courageous, and committed member of the New Zealand Defence Force. He had just turned 27 years old, and was deployed to Afghanistan last year after joining the New Zealand Defence Force in 2006. His brother is also a serving member of the New Zealand Army. To lose such a fine young man is, simply, heartbreaking. Private Mila will be mourned by his family, his friends, his mates in the provincial reconstruction team, the wider Defence Force family, and all New Zealanders.

This Government deeply values and respects the commitment and sacrifice of our Defence Force personnel who work in New Zealand and abroad. Yesterday’s accident is a stark reminder of the difficult and dangerous conditions our Defence Force personnel face every day in order to help the Afghan people. This is a sad day for New Zealand. Members in the House stand alongside the family, friends, and colleagues of Private Mila as we mourn this terrible loss.

On behalf of the Labour Party, we join with the Government in expressing our condolences, our sympathy, and our love to the family of Private Kirifi Mila, and express the sense of loss that our country shares with them. Tulouna le aiga o maota e fia o Samoa. To Kirifi’s family we offer our support and our sympathy as they mourn his loss, and likewise to his friends and his colleagues in the New Zealand Defence Force. The Defence Force itself is a family, and they will be feeling deeply the sense of grief at the loss of a friend and a colleague, a friend who, his colleagues say, was so full of life and of character. To Kirifi’s comrades who were injured in the accident, and to their families, we offer our sympathy and our wishes for a speedy recovery.

At this time, we should reflect with gratitude in this House on the young men and women who serve our country in deployments overseas, particularly in difficult and dangerous environments such as Afghanistan. It is a sad reminder of the fact that when this House makes a decision to deploy our service people, there are real risks that they may suffer injury or death.

I again offer to Kirifi’s family, including his brother who is also serving in the Army, our deepest sympathy and our gratitude for his service to our country. Kirifi, ia manuia lau malaga, ia soifua—may you have a safe journey to the heavens.

On behalf of the Green Party, I, too, want to extend our heartfelt sympathies and our aroha to the friends and family of Private Kirifi Mila, who was a victim of a tragic accident on a routine patrol, and who was within just a few short months of finishing his tour. Losing a loved one is always devastating, but it is especially so when one is lost so young and in the prime of his life, and when he is one who chose to selflessly work on the other side of the world in a community that has been devastated by war and by terror. The provincial reconstruction team of which Private Mila was a part was supporting and working with communities in Afghanistan to rebuild and to reconstruct their homes and their communities, and ultimately their lives. Our thoughts are with his family and his friends and his colleagues at this time and with those who remain injured and their families also.

On behalf of the ACT Party, I wish to express our deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to family, to friends, and to colleagues of Private Kirifi Mila, who was killed last night while on a routine patrol in Afghanistan’s north-east Bamian province, as well as to his three injured colleagues. This tragic accident, again, highlights for us in this Parliament the dangers faced by our serving men and serving women the world over, be they in a war zone like Afghanistan, or peacekeeping. It is difficult for us to comprehend the grief that those who knew him will be feeling. We rightly acknowledge the contribution and sacrifice of our servicemen and servicewomen; so too should we recognise the contribution made by their families and their friends back home. They see these brave men and women—their friends, husbands, wives, and children—travel to places they can scarcely comprehend, all in the name of freedom, of making others’ lives better. They do so without knowing what may happen to their loved ones, without knowing whether they will ever see them again. The families of Kirifi Mila, his injured colleagues, and all our brave men and brave women serving our country around the world deserve our heartfelt appreciation and deserve our respect. For what higher calling can there be than to be prepared to stand up for the cause of freedom and to make others’ lives better? Kirifi Mila, rest in peace.

Auē taukuri e. Kei te hotuhotu te manawa, kei te tangi te ngākau, kei te heke te roimata. E te uri o Hāmoa, e te w’anaunga o Te Moana Nui a Kiwa, e te ringa kaha o Tūmatauenga, ’aere, ’aere, ’oki atu rā e tama.

[Oh, the tragic loss. The heart sobs, I grieve and shed tears. To the descendant of Samoa, kin of the Great Ocean of Kiwa, strong arm of the God of War, depart, go, return, oh son.]

The Māori Party shares with all parties in this House the grief that has fallen over Aotearoa today with the sad loss of Private Kirifi Mila in the faraway lands of Afghanistan. We recognise the pain that such news brings to the greater armed forces, and in particular to his colleagues in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, based at Burnham Military Camp. Private Mila was known as a colourful character, a popular member of that team, who will be greatly missed.

The loss of Private Mila while he was travelling as part of a four-vehicle humanitarian patrol in Afghanistan was revealed to us while the Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Julia Gillard, spoke to us in this House of the Anzac spirit. We think of that spirit now, and of all those who have fallen serving on our behalf on foreign shores.

Finally, our thoughts return to his family, and in particular to his brother, who was serving by his side in Afghanistan, and we offer our aroha to his colleagues who were injured in the same accident. The death of a loved one is always hard to bear, but to be so far away at such a terrible time brings with it an even greater sense of tragedy. Our most sincere sympathies go out to the family, and to the wider community of the armed forces, on this day of such sadness. Ua malie toa, malie tau—to honour a fight, a fight well fought. Tēnā koutou.

This is another of those sad occasions when Parliament and parliamentarians, both as an institution and as individual members of New Zealand’s democratic heart, come together to both mourn and honour another of our fallen soldiers. The fact that Private Kirifi Mila was not killed in combat is of no more or less consequence than if he had been. He died serving his country in the interests and well-being of people in a far distant country, whose well-being and lives are under constant threat. He was part of the New Zealand Army’s provincial reconstruction team, which is helping to provide security and to rebuild schools and hospitals in Bamian Province, in a country that is amongst the poorest in the world. I have been part of a Cabinet of a Government that made decisions to send our military forces into harm’s way, and at times like this that is a heavy burden to carry—not, of course, as heavy as the burden carried by the families and loved ones involved. Today our thoughts are with Private Mila’s family and friends, and also with the three other personnel who were injured. They were all brave soldiers—and the three who have survived are brave soldiers—prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice as their contribution towards building a better world. We honour them for that. No words are adequate, but our deepest condolences go to Private Mila’s family on this sad occasion.

I join with other colleagues who have spoken to record my condolences and sympathy to the family of Private Kirifi Mila on their sad loss, and to express the hope that his colleagues make speedy and thorough recoveries. It is inevitable at a time like this that questions will be asked as to why this happened, why these young men were placed in a situation where they could face a threat to their safety. Whatever words are offered in response are not adequate to deal with a family’s grief, with the grief and sense of loss of friends and colleagues, and with the grief that a nation now feels. I suppose the only thing we can say by way of some consolation is that this was a young man proudly serving his country; this was a young man with a positive future and, by all accounts, a very optimistic outlook, doing his duty for his country as he saw it. If there is to be any consolation drawn from that, it has to be the consolation of service and commitment and dedication at the highest level. I simply say to his family and friends, as they approach the difficult next few days and weeks, that although there will be times of great loneliness and sadness as they come to grips with the reality of what has happened, they can take some strength from the fact that the nation holds their son and loved one in high esteem. The nation regards his sacrifice highly, and the nation will be there to support them in their hour of need.

Motion agreed to.