EDITORIAL Is it enough to just remember?

• Published date: 25 April 2024
• Publication title: Bay of Plenty Times

Earlier this month, Herald journalist David Fisher spoke to Janice Smith about her and veteran husband Rob’s efforts to engage with Veterans’ Affairs. Their story is one of deep, continuous, exhausting struggle, and there are other stories like his, of people who have fought for a country that now seemingly refuses to fight for them

As Fisher writes in his piece: “As Anzac Day approaches, there are increasing signs of dysfunction in the system established to support those who served with the mental and physical impact of their service.”

The government agency charged with meeting veterans’ needs in New Zealand is cutting services and has a year-long waiting list. It’s not even sure how many veterans it represents. There are also huge gaps in military mental health support.

The issues are many. The bottom line is this: New Zealand is failing its veterans. Veterans Minister Chris Penk has admitted so himself. Months earlier, former minister Peeni Henare said: “We’ve got to be far better than this.”

Stories like Rob Smith’s are a symbol of our failure to protect those who fought to protect us. Our lack of respect for our veterans is on display in many ways, including the long lag for veterans trying to access services and the fact that we don’t even know how many veterans we have — so how can we ensure we build the services to target their needs? As Fisher points out, this uncertainty has led the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to include a $1 billion...