McClay Todd: General Debate 
McClay Todd: General Debate 
[Volume:665;Page:12997] 
TODD McCLAY (National—Rotorua) 
: 
 I rise in the House today to show respect to Lieutenant Timothy O’Donnell the 28-year-old soldier in the New Zealand Army who was killed overnight in Bamian Province in Afghanistan. Lieutenant O’Donnell was an experienced soldier who had represented New Zealand with distinction in Timor-Leste and in Afghanistan. He has been described as a free spirit and a committed and loyal friend to his fellow military personnel. The newspapers today have said he was a “bloody good bugger” and a man who loved his family. There have been messages posted on websites throughout the country. One reads: “Anyone who dies in military service for our county deserves our gratitude and respect.” and another states: “Our thoughts and feelings go to Lieutenant O’Donnell’s mother and his wider family.” I want her to know that her son has our gratitude for his sacrifice. He has our respect and New Zealand shares in her loss today. 
New Zealand is working with NATO and our International Security Assistance Force partners to build capacity and security for Afghanistan’s Government and people. New Zealanders are active in rebuilding schools to bring education to a people for whom education was reserved for the elite and to a country where women were repressed and treated like third-class citizens by the Taliban. New Zealanders are building hospitals to bring medical care and attention to a people who have never experienced help in many cases from doctors and nurses. The work that our defence forces are doing in Afghanistan is extremely important. 
We have a proud history of helping in parts of the world where oppression and catastrophe are present. New Zealand Defence Force and police personnel have been present in East Timor the Solomon Islands Bougainville Papua New Guinea Samoa and Tonga to mention but a few countries following natural disasters. Much of their work is in the Pacific in countries close to our home and to our heart. They go there in defence of our values and to bring peace and fairness to others less fortunate than we are. The role that New Zealand plays is valued by other nations. In many countries that we are present in Australia is also there. Former Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Alexander Downer said: “We’ve had some difficult times in East Timor and the Solomon Islands. Who is always there with us? Who can we always rely on? I’ll tell you who we can always rely on. New Zealand. You can always rely on them.” The Afghan President said in 2007 that it gives his people a huge boost in confidence that New Zealanders came to Afghanistan from so far away to help build peace and stability. 
Our forces have done work that the world has recognised and that we are very proud of. In Bougainville we were stationed on the ground not as peacekeepers but to provide support to a destabilised and dislocated community. Health services showed a presence there on the ground and our New Zealanders played a large part in stopping a small island from going back to civil war. That was the first long-term regional peace initiative in the Pacific that New Zealand was involved in. In East Timor our soldiers kept Timorese people safe from militia and provided security by carrying out patrols protecting a local population that had been brutalised for many years. In the Solomon Islands a small country that had been wrecked by infighting and civil unrest we brought law and order and trained local people along with police from Australia the Cook Islands and other Pacific countries to build stable governance and provide normal lives for the people of the Solomon Islands. Private Sam Howie in his “Reflections on the Solomon Islands” which was published earlier this year said “It’s been evident throughout this deployment that the Kiwi ‘can do’ attitude has reflected positively in the Solomon Islands. Any given task was thoroughly completed no questions asked.” He went on to say: “This deployment has also made me realise more than ever … how important the relationship between nations can be.” 
New Zealand has given and will continue to give much to the less fortunate in other parts of the world. We are extremely proud of New Zealand’s record in supporting those less fortunate than us in other countries. We are very proud of the life of Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell. Our thoughts are with his family and his friends at this time.