One of New Zealand's most controversial journalists Nicky Hager has spoken about the significance of Anzac Day affecting the militaries ability to get away with war crimes.
The Dirty Politics author promoted Jon Stephenson's and his new book Hit and Run last night, which exposed what he called the "slow, deliberate and grubby" NZ SAS raid in Afghanistan, which left 21 innocent civilians dead or wounded.
Mr Hager believed a key driver of the militaries ability to get away with secrets and war crimes like what the book explains was to do with Anzac Day.
He saw this national day, which was an incoherent celebration of war, the difficulty of properly controlling the military.
"Anzac Day worships the military and through this day they are treated as a sacred force and are never criticised. There is a culture of no criticism and I think this is important."