Cameron MarkMARK CAMERON (ACT): What defines a veteran? I'll say it again for the sake of this House: what in fact defines a veteran? What prescription precondition threshold qualifies as service testament? How do we recognise former servicemen and women? How is it that we do not know the answer to this fundamental question? Or is it the case that in fact we do know the answer?Is it the case that what fully determines a vet has never been fully reconciled? Is it a case of active service in countries and conflicts abroad deployed in front-line service or is it that of logistical support? To be those people potentially at risk of losing all your tomorrows so we all here can enjoy our todays—is that the meaning of a veteran? I genuinely ask this House to reflect on that question.What does a veteran mean to everyone here beyond Anzac Day beyond Armistice Day? We all need to ask ourselves this fundamental question. What of the men and women who donned our service uniforms wore our colours and carried our flag on their shoulders deployed or not? Why can't we square away what is actually a veteran?This to me is something of a nonsense. How do we square away with active personnel? What? We've got your back until we don't."? This is the question I fundamentally want to ask. I openly commit to helping the Minister for Veterans resolve this very pressing issue. Sometimes service-tested men and women are years in the making and this House has some of those people here today. They stood ready and bloody proud of this country at a moment's notice to represent our national interests our country and our collective people. That debt on society must be made good with.In 2019 the Veterans' Advisory Board recommended that all those that served be recognised considered veterans; a reflection perhaps of the many sacrifices so many had made from peacekeepers in Tonga or Papua New Guinea or in the multiple humanitarian missions that were the face of deployment to assist in natural disasters. Perhaps tens of thousands now sit and languish in a place unknown awaiting recognition.One person said to me "If I'm not a veteran well who the hell are we then?" He followed on by saying that surely the length of service must be a consideration. I'm talking about a former commander—and this is one example I want to impress upon the House—a member of the SAS no less with 32 years of active service three postings in the NZSAS as a commanding officer no less retired as a colonel with two years in the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment in Singapore and four years as an adviser in Kuala Lumpur. He led the initial reconnaissance mission in Bosnia. Gracious me he moved his family 15 times. He is not today a veteran. Brian Franklin flew Bristol Freighters in and out of Vietnam doing parcel drops. He was part of No. 41 Squadron posted for 21 months in Malaysia. He doesn't qualify either. How is this so?These are a few examples of the thousands potentially tens of thousands yet to be recognised. If we don't recognise and protect those people in our history how can we truly invest in our future and the surety that must surely follow? And it is for that reason that I and the ACT Party fully support any work that finally paves the way for better recognition of former servicemen and women and protects those brave people that in our future we'll come to need."