For too long many of our veterans have gone unrecognised – Editorial

NZ infantry during the Vietnam War in 1969, a conflict that involved more than 3000 Kiwis. Photo / Supplied

Editorial

THREE KEY FACTS:

• The Government will introduce the Veterans’ Recognition Bill to widen the definition of veteran.
• The bill includes a new national day and a covenant to honour and respect veterans.
• This year is the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam war.

For too long many of those who have served New Zealand have gone unseen.

On Friday, Veterans Minister Chris Penk said the Government would introduce the Veterans’ Recognition Bill. It will widen the definition of veteran and also create a new national day to honour tens of thousands of people who say they have felt “invisible”.

The bill is in response to concerns from the military community, which included a call from veterans’ welfare group No Duff to boycott Anzac Day services where politicians attend

It is also fitting such recognition comes in the year of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.

More than 3000 Kiwis served in Vietnam, where 37 troops and two civilians from New Zealand died. The controversial war later became synonymous with successive Governments’ failure to address veterans’ concerns.

The bill will also include a covenant to formalise the relationship between the Government and veterans, acting as a “national promise to treat veterans with respect and dignity”.

“Under the Veterans’ Support Act, the term ‘veteran’ is currently reserved for New Zealand Defence Force [NZDF] personnel who were injured as a result of qualifying service, either in deployments where there has been a significant risk of harm to those deployed, or in routine service before ACC was introduced in 1974,” Penk said.

“While that definition remains appropriate for determining eligibility for support entitlements, it has unfortunately left many who have loyally served our nation feeling excluded, given that they fall outside the current narrow legal scope of the ‘veteran’ definition.”

We couldn’t have asked for a better advocate for greater veteran recognition than our most decorated living war hero, Willie Apiata.

He gifted Penk his New Zealand Victoria Cross medal last month to encourage Parliament to change the legal definition of veteran.

“The definition that resides within our country at the moment splits us into two peoples when we should be one. Because we all gave one service,” Apiata said.

He has also campaigned for more than five years for changes to the Veterans Support Act 2014.

About 40,000 of the estimated 140,000 people who have served in the NZDF are currently deemed veterans.

Finally, all those who have stood for our country will be honoured.

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