Thousands across Aotearoa turn out to Anzac Day commemorations, concerns around Assisted Dying practitioner info being publically released and Stats NZ remind Kiwis of $2k Census fines in the latest New Zealand Herald headlines. Video / NZ Herald
He was buried in Waikumete, a service plot in Auckland this month after being repatriated home from Ukraine.
Te Tai had travelled to Ukraine in April last year and had worked as a volunteer, humanitarian and eventually as the leader of a reconnaissance unit on the front line.
Kane Te Tai (right) pictured with Kiwi fighter Dominic Abelen, who was killed in Ukraine in August last year.
He had joined the New Zealand army in 2002 when he was just 17 and served in deployments to Afghanistan.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Meka Whaitiri said while the New Zealand Government condemns the illegal occupation of Ukraine, it had been clear about not sending troops to the conflict.
“[Te Tai] will be remembered but we had to make it very clear for those New Zealand soldiers who chose to go and fight that they were doing it on their own responsibility and understanding.
“It wasn’t sanctioned by the New Zealand Government or the Defence Force but that does not stop the reality that some have chosen to fight.
“Alongside his family we mourn the loss of their son, their brother, their fiance.”
Whaitiri said she had helped the family bring Te Tai’s Ukrainian fiance to New Zealand for the funeral.
Te Tai was the third New Zealander to die in the conflict.
Humanitarian Andrew Bagshaw - who was on leave without pay from the NZDF - was killed in January while evacuating a woman from Bakhmut and Corporal Dominic Abelen who was killed while on leave without pay from the Defence Force.
“As a nation and as a government we have stood up to what’s taking place in Ukraine and calling out the illegal war that’s caused by Russia but that’s highlighting why peace is so critical in our junction, in our history, as a nation, but also internationally the significance of why we try to use diplomatic channels to solve indifference,” Whaitiri said.
“We think about Ukraine people at this particular time but that doesn’t take away our Kiwis who have served for our Defence Force internationally and given time to our service.”
