Anzac Day Amendment Bill

on behalf of the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage: I present a legislative statement on the Anzac Day Amendment Bill.

SPEAKER: That legislative statement is published under the authority of the House and can be found on the Parliament website.

Hon CHRIS PENK: I move, That the Anzac Day Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee to consider the bill.

I will start in quite an unusual fashion if I may and invite any members who are giving contributions on this matter the opportunity to wear a poppy. I’ve placed a number down by the Mace along with some pins if any colleagues wish to avail themselves of that opportunity. Of course, there are only a few short weeks until Anzac Day and there will be other opportunities, of course, for members to express their support for our veterans through the RSA welfare league, and I’m encouraged to see the response already in that regard.

I also want to acknowledge the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage, whose name technically is on this bill, but as the Anzac Day Act is a matter of considerable significance to our nation’s veterans, I am very pleased to be able to speak to it on behalf of the Government and to recognise the impact of the changes that will be felt by our ex-service personnel.

In a way, the bill that we have before us is a way of symbolic recognition, but symbols are important, not least to our armed forces. Poppies, medals, flags, silver ferns, and other symbols represent the ideals for which generations of men and women in this country have fought and, in some cases, paid the ultimate sacrifice.

The bill that comes before the House today is designed to provide for broader and more inclusive recognition and commemoration on Anzac Day of those who have served our country in wars and warlike operations. The Anzac Day Act 1966 currently restricts recognition and commemoration to those who served in six specified conflicts, ending with the war in South Vietnam. By being limited to the specific named conflicts, the Act is currently too narrow. I think that for many of us who have attended Anzac Day services—and I acknowledge the members across the House who inevitably will have done that in their respective local areas—clearly the mood in 2025 and, of course, in many recent years has been that we must take a much more broad and inclusive approach, and it is appropriate that our legislation catches up with that.

We must take account of the recent conflicts and other operations in which our people have served, as well as conflicts actually before that time that are not specified in the legislation. The restrictiveness of the current law excludes a number of circumstances where Kiwi personnel have served our country with bravery and distinction, and where recognition from their fellow citizens and, of course, the Government, on behalf of those citizens, is richly deserved.

The wording of the Act does not at present include military service by personnel in the New Zealand armed forces or others in allied forces in wars or warlike conflicts such as UN missions or multi-force groupings or organisations. I think of service like the UN peacekeeping force on the Sinai Peninsula, among others. And neither does the present version of the Act cover non-military service in a war or warlike conflict involving New Zealand—for example, the Home Guard defending New Zealand, medical personnel, members of the merchant navy during the world wars, and members of the New Zealand civilian surgical team who served in the Vietnam conflict as well. In other words, we aim to be much more comprehensive and fair in recognising all these people in this way.

New Zealand residents and others also served in allied forces in the two world wars, and some New Zealand armed forces personnel who enlisted to serve their country died in service training incidents. They too should not be forgotten. And neither should we forget those from other allied forces countries who were there with the Kiwis when the first allied troops landed on Gallipoli in 1915, such as India and France, on whom the Act is currently silent. By naming some countries’ service personnel but not others, we have, perhaps unwittingly, excluded in a very real way those who also served.

And, of course, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that there were others who served nations with whom we were then in conflict but with whom we have very friendly and cordial and constructive relationships, including in a security sense, but, of course, more broadly, people-to-people links, and economic relationships such as trade and so on.

We aim to keep Anzac Day and the commemorations that take place annually on 25 April as relevant this year, and next year and so on, as they were last year and all the years previous. The change being made is a small one, and I acknowledge that, but I think nevertheless—and I hope that members will agree—that it is a powerful one. It will create a new section 2 in the Act, and this will broaden recognition and commemoration of all who have served New Zealand, including those who have passed away but not only those, in times of war and warlike conflict.

The Government, on behalf of the people of New Zealand, bears the significant responsibility of improving the way that we honour and acknowledge those who have served our nation humbly, courageously, and with great loyalty. So I do just want to mention in my remaining time that this is, of course, a broader stream of work that has been undertaken over a number of different years and across the successive Governments, and there are others in the House, including previous Ministers, who will recognise the discussion that has been held about, for example, having in law a recognition of a kawenata or covenant that would recognise the service of our armed forces to the people of New Zealand.

Those are beyond the scope of this bill and so I don’t intend to traverse those subjects today. But with Anzac Day coming soon, no doubt these conversations will soon come to the fore again. It’s appropriate they do so, and, as I stated publicly, albeit within the Whakatāne RSA but reported more widely in response to a gesture made by Warrant Officer Willie Apiata VC, I have heard those calls for a broader recognition.

Yes, it may be that it is appropriate to think about ways that we can recognise symbolically those who have served New Zealand as veterans in a way that doesn’t threaten the integrity or the current structure of the Veterans’ Support Act. Those conversations, as I say, are for another day. For now, though, I do wish to acknowledge them. I do wish to point out that the commitment made by the Prime Minister at the RSA’s annual conference last year is being honoured by the introduction of this legislation, and we’ve committed to having it passed before Anzac Day of 2026. The support of other members of the House, including across the parties, as well as, of course, our friends and partners in coalition, will be very welcome indeed.

So, with that, I conclude simply by reiterating those themes upon which the legislation is based. Anzac Day must be much more inclusive. Its focus must be not solely on the past but also recognising already the comments that are quite rightly made around the country on 25 April that it represents to the future as well as the present. We have a duty to honour those who serve us. This bill will go some small way to ensuring that we do so. We will remember them.

In the very same RSA in Whakatāne, my first Anzac Day as Minister of Defence, I began my speech by reflecting upon the situation or the position I found myself in, whereby my great-grandfather, MP of this House for 28 years, actively recruited for the Pioneer Battalion who served in World War I, and then continued to actively recruit, alongside Sir Apirana Ngata during his time here in Parliament, for active service for what became known as the 28th (Māori) Battalion in the Second World War, in which my grandfather, his son, served, and his final posting was as the commander of the 28th (Māori) Battalion. Then I found myself, as a defence Minister, speaking in the very same RSA in Whakatāne and acknowledging that our people are involved in conflict and in wars and in peacekeeping services right around the world. While it may be an unspoken thing that when we show up to an Anzac Day, we acknowledge them and we remember them, I think this move with this particular bill is an important one and a symbolic one, and I acknowledge the Minister for bringing this here to the House.

When we commemorate Anzac Day, it’s a special time. It’s emotional. It allows us to reflect on our past, to think about our current day, and also to plan for our future. We support this bill. What I say to those who are proposed to come under the remit of this particular bill, in changing the Anzac Day legislation, is that I want them to continue to remember the specific days that are important to them. We know, for example, the Merchant Navy Day is a different day to Anzac Day and they have their own services—in fact, I’ve been to a number in Tauranga, and I know members across the House have been there. It is important we continue to remember them all during Anzac Day. But I want to just offer a word of encouragement to those who will finally come under the remit of this legislation through this bill—that they continue to remember the days that are important to them, that are significant to them. And I’m sure they will. But those are the kinds of testaments and memorials that we hope never to be lost in time, and I do continue to encourage that.

I also reflect on the time, in my first term here in Parliament, where there was a significant push for recognition of the New Zealand Wars, to which we unveiled a plaque in this House to remember that. While these gestures are symbolic and they may take some time, we acknowledge that we’ve come on a significant journey, certainly over the past decade and even beyond then, to allow the recognition through this particular bill, which is why we will continue to support this bill. We will encourage, of course, many of our veterans, our service personnel, current and past, to make sure that their voice is heard, that there are submissions on this particular bill, where we might have, through the passage of time, forgotten a particular conflict or something or rather—you know, something that’s important to them. I think it’s important that their voices continue to be heard through the process and the progress of this bill.

The Labour Party support this bill. Once again, I encourage submitters, and I also encourage those with significant days to continue to commemorate, celebrate, and come together on those days to remember the deeds of those who have served and who continue to serve.

Finally, from my side, I acknowledge the comments of the Minister for Veterans with respect to the kawenata and with respect to the ongoing work when we look towards the acknowledgment and the honouring of veterans. I know that’s a significant piece of work, from both my time and the time of subsequent Ministers. And of course, I acknowledge the act of my cousin Willie Apiata VC in handing the VC to the Minister for Veterans—which comes with a huge burden. We want to say to the Minister and to this Government that, in a true bipartisan approach, we would be more than happy to make sure a door is open so that we can have those discussions to honour these people in the way that they deserve. We leave that door open to the Minister, and we look forward to ongoing conversation on this bill and the matter that I’ve just raised. We support this bill.

Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I stand in support of the Anzac Day Amendment Bill, on behalf of Te Pāti Kākāriki—the Green Party. I think it’s important for us to fill the gaps for those who have served New Zealand in various contexts around conflict and military service, including UN peacekeeping. I remember talking to a veteran who was onboard the ships—I think it was the Pukaki—that went to Christmas Island in 1958 for the British nuclear testing and was exposed to radiation. He was one of the 10 servicemen on board the vessel who was tasked with the job of spraying down the fallout after it had landed on the ship, and he said he was the last of those 10 still alive. He was not recognised—because he had never actually been in warfare—for that service, even though it cost him his friends and cost them their lives because of the radiation exposure.

This sort of bill helps to capture all of those who have served in such a manner as to give themselves for, supposedly, the good of the country. One thing I find concerning, though, is in all the background documents, there’s sort of a glaring absence, and it’s one that the previous speaker, Peeni Henare, alluded to: there’s no mention of the New Zealand Wars. Now, I believe that the proposed wording for the new amendment, which says “commemoration of the contribution of all those who have served New Zealand … in time of war and in warlike conflicts”, would capture those in the New Zealand Wars. Certainly, it would capture tangata whenua Māori who served in the New Zealand Wars, and it is right that it should do that.

It mentions other conflicts, as I’ve said. It also mentions, for example, those who served in the Home Guard. Well, I can’t think of a better example of the Home Guard than the tangata whenua Māori who defended New Zealand from 1845 to 1872 against British invasion. They certainly must be included, and I find it concerning that there’s sort of a silence in the background documents and the commentary on that inclusion. For context, we know the great sacrifice of New Zealand soldiers—the great losses of New Zealand soldiers—in the First and Second World Wars, and particularly, we know of the Māori Battalion. Those wars saw around 336 Māori die in the First World War and 649 die in the Second World War. But it is estimated that, in the New Zealand Wars, around 2,154 Māori died, and 745 British or colonialist or kūpapa soldiers died. This is a significant number. Those wars—from 1845 to 1872—ran for 27 years. That is a huge part of our war history in this country. That is essential to understanding the history of New Zealand—the colonial history—and we should move ever more boldly, as we recognise that part of our history, to acknowledge those who died in the New Zealand Wars.

I just want to reflect on the nomenclature of New Zealanders, because, of course, the first group of people to ever have the term “New Zealander” applied, whether they had sought to have it or not, were tangata whenua Māori. They were referred to as “the New Zealanders”, so both in terms of time and in terms of nomenclature, the first New Zealanders are Māori. It seems that this will be captured by the legislation, but I would love, Minister, if there was more explicit acknowledgment and clarification—and certainly, I’ll put it to you in the committee of the whole House—that this legislation now acknowledges those who served and died in the New Zealand Wars.

War, in the end, serves nobody—we know that. I sometimes feel remiss at Anzac Day commemorations when there’s a glorification of it, when I know the soldiers, when you read their diaries, who returned from that First World War wanted to make sure it never happened again, and we should always remember that it is an absolute last resort, to go to war—especially in the times we’re in now. Thank you.

I’m honoured to speak in support of the Anzac Day Amendment Bill. The changes that this bill makes will allow us to formally recognise more veterans who have served New Zealand, specifically in the conflicts which have occurred since 1966, which was when the Anzac Day Act was last updated.

Our day of commemoration on Anzac Day currently honours the part played by New Zealand servicemen and women in six specified conflicts: the First and Second World Wars, the South African Boer War, the Korean War, the war in Malaya and Borneo, and also the war in South Vietnam. I’m pointing to the plaques on the wall which commemorate and acknowledge.

The Anzac Day Amendment Bill will allow those who have served or died in other conflicts, in times of war in the past—and God forbid, in our future—to also be commemorated and recognised. It serves as validation for the significant personal sacrifices that they have made, including time away from home and family, enduring difficult conditions, and facing both physical and emotional challenges. Being recognised for their service is a deeply meaningful acknowledgment of their dedication, sacrifice, and contributions to our country. Recognition also connects their individual contributions to something much larger, a commitment to not just duty and to honour but to also protect others. It underscores that their role was not just about the job itself, but about the greater good to society.

This recognition will also be about the legacy left behind. It means that their service will be remembered for future generations and for their families and also for the communities that have been impacted by their service. Ultimately, recognition for service as a way of us saying, “Your efforts matter and we really appreciate what you have done for us.” It acknowledges the courage, the commitment, and the sacrifices that our servicemen and women have made.

Many of us, when we get up in the early hours of Anzac Day to attend a dawn service, are doing so to honour a relative who may have served. I like to reminisce and think back to what my forefathers did to ensure that we live in a free and democratic society. I only had one grandparent growing up. It was my maternal grandfather, and he constantly talked about the war and its effect on him and his friends.

The impact this had on me surfaced when I first started shooting sports. When I started with a service rifle, I picked up the trusty old .303. I’ve never been interested in shooting the modern service rifle; I just wanted to use the same type of rifle that my grandfather used, and I wanted to be a part of a society that respects and commemorates in that way. The Lee-Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm for the military forces of the British Empire in Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century. It was the standard issue firearm to the British Army and other Commonwealth nations, including New Zealand and Australia in both the First and Second World Wars. When I’m at a range using a .303, I’m connected to that history. Lest we forget.

And how could we forget when we’re standing in this Chamber? Look around. We are surrounded by reminders of our military history. This place in which we stand was at one time dedicated as a memorial to the First World War. The carved circular wreaths around the balcony bear the names and places where significant battles were fought by New Zealand troops during World War I. And there are 18 carved plaques on the wall panels which were added in 1961 and include later war service by New Zealand troops. How appropriate then, surrounded by all of this history, that we now move to formally recognise those who have taken part in more recent warlike conflicts, including our peacekeeping forces. It is my absolute honour to commend this bill to the House.

I’m going to carry on from the Hon Nicole McKee and her speech. It is an absolute honour to rise to speak to this Anzac Day Amendment Bill and to do so in this room which is surrounded by memories of conflict past and the role that New Zealand has played in those.

I want to thank the Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage for bringing this bill to the House, because this is something that New Zealand First has always stood very proudly behind—our service personnel—and also very proudly behind the Anzac Day commemorations. It’s really been very, very heartwarming to see the resurgence of interest of Kiwis of all ages in supporting our service personnel through the Anzac commemorations.

We often say “Lest we forget”. We say “We will remember them.” This bill is about making sure that that remembrance is more inclusive than it has been through the legislation as it stands at the moment. In terms of “Lest we forget”, one of the things I had the privilege of doing—I guess it was a self-generated privileged—when I was a city councillor in Wellington was to recognise that we had quite a number of street names which were named for people, places, and events from the First World War. As part of the World War I commemorations, the 100-year commemorations, I set out to tell the stories of those places and to recognise those streets, with a poppy sign and a little bit of the story behind those. Look, we hadn’t forgotten the battles—people had remembered those, but they had forgotten the people. In this town, the people back in 1917 had actually said, “Well, we want to remember some of those people who were special to us have gone and died.”, but we had forgotten them many generations later. So to be able to put a sign up there and say “Let’s remember those individuals.” was, to me, a really important thing to do.

This bill is all about being more inclusive. It’s about recognising the conflicts since 1966. It’s about recognising peacekeeping activities and UN missions where they are in dangerous situations. These are still people who are going to serve New Zealand and put their lives on the line in risky situations. The Home Guard we’ve already talked about. It’s also about recognising those who’ve served in allied forces as well. For example, my wife’s grandfather and his brother both served in the Second World War, in the Royal Air Force, and both of them died in the RAF in active service. So those things come very, very close to home and it is good to be able to recognise them. It’s about recognising, too, the people who died in training activities or from sickness as well.

Two other groups I particularly wanted to talk about—one is the medical personnel who may well not have been military medical personnel but who went to serve, to support our service personnel, and it would be good to recognise particularly our nursing personnel who went. In the First World War, we lost 16 nurses in active situation, either through illness or, in one case, 10 nurses died when the Marquette was sunk in the Aegean, and, of course, that was there in the Aegean to support the Anzac operation. So it is absolutely right and proper that we recognise the service of, if you like, people outside of uniform or in a different uniform—our nursing personnel.

The other group I wanted to mention was the Merchant Navy. Obviously, New Zealand is a trading country, and in those days that trade was particularly with the United Kingdom. Getting product to and from the United Kingdom—and that’s absolutely essential for the war effort—was really, really dangerous. Something like 160 Merchant Navy personnel died in the Second World War in New Zealand colours, if you like. In preparing for this, I particularly recognised some of the courage not only to be able to sail there at the threat of being potentially torpedoed and what might happen then but also the situation with the Otaki, which was a New Zealand Shipping Company—

Tim Costley: Bisset-Smith, Otaki.

ANDY FOSTER: The Otaki, yes.

Tim Costley: Captain Bissett-Smith.

ANDY FOSTER: Yeah. It was a New Zealand Shipping Company ship which actually was engaged by a German auxiliary cruiser and it fought back. It lost but it showed the courage that our Merchant Navy personnel showed in that situation.

So it is right and proper that we have a piece of legislation which is amended to be able to recognise the courage of all of these people. I wish to commend this bill to the House and I look forward to the submissions, accordingly.

Tēnā rā koe, e te Pīka, otirā tēnā rā tātou, e te Whare. E tū ana ahau ki te waha i ngā kōrero mō te Pāti Māori i te rangi nei. Nōku te hōnore ki te tuku kōrero, ki te tū ki tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira hei reo owha, hei reo tākiri, hei reo whakataunaki i ngā hōia katoa o te motu. Kei ngā ika a whiro, te pae o Tūmatauenga, ngā waewae kai pakiaka o te whawhai mō Aotearoa, Niu Tīreni, nei ka whakamānawa i a koutou. Rirerire hau pai mārire.

[Thank you, Madam Speaker. Greetings to us all in the House. I stand to voice the position of Te Pāti Māori today. It is my honour to stand and talk about this prominent issue, as a voice of salute, of thanks, and of support for all soldiers of the land. To the veterans, the bench of the War God, the adventurous ones, who fought for Aotearoa, this is my adulation to you all. May the beautiful message of God deliver widespread peace.]

On behalf of Te Pāti Māori, we support this bill and this kaupapa. We understand that this bill amends the Anzac Day Act 1966 to recognise those who served in more recent conflicts but who are not currently recognised nor provided for. Following Anzac, many wars and conflicts have occurred since then and are still ongoing.

Māori make up a large proportion of those serving in the Defence Force, and Te Pāti Māori stands with you and all those served before, after, and alongside you. They might be your brother, your father, your mother, or your sister. They walk among us and they carry the experience of conflict without due recognition.

The effect of the World Wars on Māori has been decimated paepae across the country, stripping te ao Māori of its means of cultural survival and favour. Te Pāti Māori supports formal recognition of veterans of more recent conflicts, including those involved in peacekeeping, to be provided for under the Act. Many of our people, especially those in the Defence Force, are so humble that in times like this we must advocate for them in the way that they require. The late Tā Bom advocated for similar recognition of the Māori Battalion, including through the tribunal.

We must heed these lessons of history and avoid repeating the same failed mistakes of the past. As I look around this House and as I look around the room, I can see all of the wreaths, and I think of my tūpuna who served in World War II, my tupuna Peter Tauatahi, who was in the Māori Battalion, and also my tupuna Duncan McNicol, who served in World War I.

However, it does bring huge mamae that there is nothing in this House that recognises the Māori Land Wars, Te Pūtake o Te Riri. Te Pāti Māori brings this conversation of our tūpuna, and I would like to thank the Green Party and the Labour Party for recognising and acknowledging our tūpuna who have fought in the New Zealand Land Wars, Te Pūtake o Te Riri: Rangiriri, Ōhaeawai, Pukehinahina, Rangiaowhia, and many more who were only recently being acknowledged by this House, like recently in the Ō-Rākau battle site reading, where that was the petition of the Homai He Rā [Give a Day campaign], bring us a recognition date for the Land Wars that occurred here on our own soil of Aotearoa.

This bill must be brought forward to ensure that this country remains in keeping with its promise of our past, present, and future to the servicewomen and men.

We honour that recently Willie Apiata VC and the Minister, with the hope that the Minister truly understands the mana of such an undertaking and appropriate tikanga. E te Minita, e wewera ana tō pūkoro i te mana o ngā whakahau kua taupokina ki runga ki a koe. Ko te mānuka kua takoto, kua kawea kia mau ki te kupu. Mana te kupu, tapu te kupu. Tēnā rā koutou, e te Whare.

[To the Minister, your pocket is warm, due to the responsibilities that have been entrusted to you. The challenge has been laid and accepted, so be true to your word. Words have power and are set apart. Thank you to the House.]

Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s an honour to rise and take a call on the Anzac Day Amendment Bill today, and I’d like to start by acknowledging all past and present New Zealand Defence Force personnel for their service that they have provided to New Zealand, through the challenges that may present, the opportunities that brings, the friendship, the camaraderie, the skills, and ultimately the service, upholding the values and freedoms that we hold so dear in New Zealand.

This bill today actually formalises a lot of what happens around the country, and I take great pride in attending Anzac services around the Waikato every year. I get to as many as I can, and you can see, out in our communities, that there is a strong sense of the importance of attending those services—of remembering the service, the sacrifice that has been made, whether that was quite some time ago or quite recently. I think, in that context, it’s encouraging to feel that formal recognition is already occurring in our communities, and yet today we are now formalising that through legislation, as well we should.

We’ve heard a bit about some of the plaques around Parliament, as well, and indeed World War I is clearly recognised; World War II, and beyond. But there are more modern plaques as well, with Timor-Leste and Afghanistan, noting indeed already in this Chamber we have those plaques and appreciate the service that was made. This legislation will now formalise that, to bring it more into line with where we are. It’s an important step, because, although this is, largely, already happening, actually, it is really important that the Government of the day, this Parliament, shows a clear sign of appreciation for what has been done on its behalf by the brave men and women who have pulled on the uniform.

That formal acknowledgment is really important, not just for those personnel who have served recently but, indeed, for any personnel who have served or died in training incidents as well—that’s an important one that I think we need to pick up on, because it is critical, when you are training in the Defence Force, that you train in as realistic a scenario as possible, and, of course, that comes with an inherent level of risk. Sadly, there have been instances where lives have been lost in different training scenarios. So, of course, we should acknowledge those personnel too.

The other thing from the Minister’s speech that I wanted to pick up on was acknowledging—again, right back to the definition of “Anzac Day”—not just UK, Australian, and New Zealand forces but actually expanding that to acknowledge other countries that were represented and that contributed through their endeavour as well, and India, in particular, is one I’ve had some conversations about quite recently. So I think it’s very fitting and appropriate that we are now acknowledging those soldiers who served during that time as well.

I am very pleased that we are now able to formalise this. I have the privilege of chairing the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, and so I look forward to our committee’s consideration of this bill. I would encourage anyone who has an interest in the bill, the detail of it or potentially proposing some amendments or suggestions, to take the time to submit through that process and to enable myself and my colleagues on the committee to consider that, to ensure that we are getting this piece of legislation in the best state possible, to appropriately reflect and honour those service personnel.

I think that, basically, covers where we are at—a great progression, building on, I think, what has been a growing momentum of work in terms of acknowledging veterans’ service. We’ve heard about some of the other work that has been considered by the Minister—that, hopefully, will come to this House in due course—and, indeed, the collaborative comments from the Opposition in terms of their desire to support this appropriately, as well. So I am very encouraged by that, and I think it’s a fitting time as well, when we think of not just those who have been before but indeed those who continue to serve in a time of increasing uncertainty around the globe. There is never a time when we are safe, when peace is perpetual. We must continue to stand up for those values, for those freedoms, and always be ready to serve this country.

I just want to end, again, by acknowledging those who have done that, because it is very important for all of us. Lest we forget.

This is a bill that expands the people that we honour and remember and are grateful for on Anzac Day, and it’s going to expand to persons serving in warlike conflict, and if they serve in response to an armed conflict that has occurred, is occurring, or may occur or reoccur.

I wanted to start, and I have never done this before, with a poem, and it’s from Sassoon, and it was from the First World War. I picked it because I find him to be a poet who is very unsentimental in his view of war, but also because I think the sentiment in it is one where we really need to look at the people that we hope to include under this bill, and look at what the reality of what they’re doing is. So, although it’s about World War I, I think it draws a really good link. It’s called “Attack”, and it says:

At dawn the ridge emerges, massed and dun

In the wild purple of the glow’ring sun,

Smouldering through spouts of drifting smoke that shroud

The menacing scarred slope; and, one by one,

Tanks creek and topple forward to the wire.

The barrage roars and lifts. Then, clumsily bowed

With bombs and guns and shovels and battle-gear,

Men jostle and climb to meet the bristling fire.

Lines of grey, muttering faces, masked with fear,

They leave their trenches, going over the top,

While time ticks blank and busy on their wrists,

And hope, with furtive eyes and grappling fists,

Flounders in mud. O Jesu, make it stop!

It’s an incredibly great honour to speak in this House on something as serious as the commitment that people make to our armed services, and the risks that they take. One of the people who will be covered in this Act is Private Leonard Manning, who fought in a peacekeeping mission. There was an ambush while he was on that mission. He faced the same fear and was as brave and made as great a sacrifice as the person and the people that are referred to in the poem I’ve just read. He deserves our gratitude and our respect, and we need to remember the fear that he would have been in at that time.

We have an incredibly proud record of peacekeeping in this country. In 1945, the UN was created and New Zealand was a founding member of that. Since then, we’ve had our greatest contingent in Afghanistan, in the Bamyan province. We’ve been active in Sinai in 1981, Yugoslavia in 1993, Somalia in 1992, and Bougainville and East Timor from 1989 to 1997. In East Timor, we lost Private Manning, in the incident that was an ambush. In the Solomons, we were active between 1998 and 2003. In all these situations, our peacekeepers have made a very real difference to the peace of our world, and their work is not done. It will continue. We do live in extremely uncertain times, where the humanity that they bring to their role will be much to the betterment of the work they do to, hopefully, stabilise unstable situations.

Finally, I just want to turn to my own area of Mount Albert. It has this wonderful RSE in it—the Grey Lynn RSE. On Anzac Day, I run from service to service in my area. This little Grey Lynn RSE is one of the most wonderful environments. It has an incredible little service. It’s very sparky. It’s called an RSE, not an RSA, because it includes the merchant shipmen, and it did so at a very early time. So, everybody who’s spoken in this House about how we’ve already moved on in New Zealand and we are including more people, that little RSE has done that job for a long time in our community. I always think when I’m in that particular place of the people around me and who would be missing in that community as a result of war. I know that it’s very real for my electorate. In Mount Albert, I have Mount Albert Grammar, where so many of our people died, and I honour them. Thank you.

In three weeks’ time, our nation will stand in silence at dawn and we’ll remember all of those who have served our country in conflicts around the world. On Anzac Day, as I stand and I hear “The Last Post” and observe the minute’s silence—hopefully, with a helicopter flypast approaching—invariably, in my mind, I drift back 15 years ago to my friends, all of whom served overseas but who were killed in 2010 in accidents in New Zealand. I think of Nick Cree and of Hayden Madsen, Ben Carson, and Dan Gregory.

That experience of Anzac Day may be my reality and it may be the reality for many, but the law currently states that only those who served up until the war in South Vietnam are officially recognised. Many who served before me and all those who served alongside me are not.

There is a tension here, and if I’m really honest, I always feel a little inadequate on Anzac Day as I stand there in my medals and I reflect on my grandfathers’ war service and I think what they would have gone through. How can I compare my service in Afghanistan or in peacekeeping missions around the world to what they must have endured?

But then I’m reminded of Leonard Manning. Last year, I made the trek across Timor-Leste, up the hill and through the bush, to the place where he was ambushed and where he lost his life in action. I’m reminded of Leon Smith, who lost his life in action in Afghanistan, a month after earning his New Zealand Gallantry Decoration. He was trying to save the life of his SAS comrade Dougie Grant while under fire. I think of those New Zealanders who lost their lives in action in Afghanistan, like Tim O’Donnell, Pralli Durrer, Rory Malone NZGM, Luke Tamatea, Jacinda Baker, and Richard Harris. I think of John McNutt, who lost his life in Kuwait. I think of Richard Absolon, who lost his life in the Falklands War—and, in fact, I’m wearing his school tie today—and I think of those Kiwis who lost their lives on these operations but not in action, like, in East Timor, Tony Walser, William White, Boyd Atkins, and Dean Johnston, and, in Afghanistan, Cliff Mila and Dougie Hughes. We must remember them all.

The same Anzac spirit that saw 100,000 Kiwis march off to Europe in 1914—that spirit lives on in the women and the men who serve New Zealand today. In them, we see the same willingness to serve—to put on their uniform each day to do whatever their country may ask of them and to go to whichever country this House may ask them to go—and wherever they serve in the world and wherever they may serve in the world, the very essence of service and sacrifice endures. The scale of loss may appear smaller, but the significance of the loss is no less, particularly to those families who for ever bear the scars.

That is why we must support this bill. The words in it may be small, but they are significant as they honour all of those who have served and those who have laid down their lives in conflict around the world. Now, I will for ever be proud to have served and I am immensely proud of those I’ve served alongside, but I will always be in awe of those who went before me, and particularly of those who never returned home. Ka maumahara tonu tātou ki a rātou—lest we forget.

That was an excellent speech by Tim Costley. I just want to acknowledge what a great contribution that was to this debate.

Like, I think, all members in this House, I have so many images in my mind about Anzac Days over the years. The smell of gunpowder at Waikumete Cemetery at six in the morning; every year, the Te Atatū, Swanson, and Henderson RSAs with their services. Anzac Day always provokes in me a lot of reflection and thought about how I feel about war and peace. All of my political life, I’ve been a critic of the many imperialist wars and foreign adventures that this country and others have taken part in. It’s been part of my kind of political journey through life.

For a couple of hundred years, my ancestors were on the wrong side of every British imperialist conflict you could imagine, from Waterloo to Crimea, the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, the Boer War, World War I. I have an uncle who was shot escaping from a Japanese prisoner of war camp building the death railway through Thailand in World War II. The Vietnam War—or the “American War”, as the Vietnamese call it—was one of the great political events that shaped the views of generations around the world, including here in New Zealand and for me. I marched and opposed and organised against the Bush-Blair invasion of Iraq. I’m a member of a party that has a proud tradition of opposing unjust foreign wars.

But I’m not a pacifist. Hitler had to be stopped in World War II. Putin should be stopped in Ukraine. I supported the New Zealand Defence Forces being deployed in Timor-Leste and in the Solomon Islands, in Bougainville, in the Pacific. I recognise that if you want to be able to defend your nation and if you want to be able to put an armed force into the field to defend the things that you hold dear, then you have to take that very seriously, and you must make an unqualified commitment to support and to respect and to honour the people who put on the uniform and put their lives at risk in defence of the nation.

And Gallipoli, which God knows was the most ill-conceived fiasco where so many young New Zealanders and Australians were needlessly slaughtered because of the stupidity and incompetence of the British officer class, stands in history as one of the supreme examples of the needless carnage of war. We still, rightly, remember and honour the people who served there and who gave their lives. I remember one of my constituents who was a Gallipoli veteran who I met in my first campaign doorknocking in my electorate, who was a regular at the Henderson RSA. I was amazed that this guy was still there who had fought as a youngster in Gallipoli, and was still there only a little over a decade ago.

It’s very important that we recognise the supreme contribution that people make when they serve in the armed forces. They don’t get to choose the conflict that they serve in. They make an unqualified commitment to serve their country, and they do so really subject to the decision making that happens in this House, in this Parliament, and by the Government of the day. It’s right and appropriate that this bill we’re considering in the House today modernises the way that Anzac Day recognises the contribution of our defence personnel across numerous different conflicts and numerous different ways of serving.

I also want to say I support colleagues both from Labour, the Greens, and Te Pāti Māori in their call for the New Zealand Wars to be considered properly as well.

I’m honoured to speak on this bill. Thank you. Thank you to those who served our country in the past and also in the present, because they are the heroes of our country. They serve our country. They protect our country. They are the heroes who sacrifice for our country, and they are the heroes who deserve the respect and the acknowledgment of every single citizen in this country.

It is an honour to serve our country, but serving the country often involves significant personal sacrifice, including putting the needs of our nation and fellow citizens before their own comfort, career, and family. For that, we will never be able to fully repay them. It is critical to acknowledge and appreciate the sacrifice made by those who serve, both in uniform and other supporting roles, as their dedication contributes to the wellbeing and security of our nation. New Zealand wouldn’t be the beautiful country on planet Earth without their sacrifice.

New Zealand will always remember and honour those who have served New Zealand. Anzac Day is one of the ways they want to show it. They want to show their appreciation to them on Anzac Day. This is why this bill amends the Anzac Day Act 1966 to cover other conflicts and people who have served New Zealand in times of war, in warlike conflict, or peacekeeping operations in the past and in the future that are not currently covered by the Act. They are our heroes. We will remember them. It is my honour to commend this bill to the House.

Can I acknowledge all speakers on this bill for the reverence demonstrated today.

Motion agreed to.

Bill read a first time.

The question is, That the Anzac Day Amendment Bill be considered by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.

Motion agreed to.

Bill referred to the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee.