Peters Winston: Motions — Tomb of the Unknown Warrior—Recognition of Service of New Zealanders 
Peters Winston: Motions — Tomb of the Unknown Warrior—Recognition of Service of New Zealanders 
[Volume:621;Page:16868] 
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Leader—NZ First) 
: 
 Eighty-six years ago the war to end all wars ended with an armistice signed in the forests of Compiègne by the Allies and Germans in 1918. Four years earlier thousands of young men including New Zealanders went to die on foreign fields for a cause many never understood—except that they believed in God and they believed in king and country. Even though the battles of the so-called Great War stopped on Armistice Day world war broke out again 20 years later because the issues had not been resolved. So the next war to end all wars raged for 6 years between 1939 and 1945. Then New Zealanders fought in Korea Malaya and Vietnam; and now our servicemen and servicewomen continue to serve around the world rebuilding battered nations and keeping alive the hope of peace. That is an honourable tradition and it should continue and be remembered. 
Today we celebrate the return of one of our soldiers who represents each and every one of those who have served the causes we believed in. He will become a symbol for future generations of our sacrifices and our determination to uphold the values of liberty democracy tolerance and peace. We know that this soldier fought in the Battle of the Somme. It was a terrible tragedy in which more than 1500 New Zealanders lost their lives. More than 1200 of them in death were never identified. The choice of that bloodied battleground from which to draw our Unknown Soldier represents our commitment as a nation to defend our shared values. 
We also remember that we sent large numbers of our brightest and best young people abroad during both World War I and World War II and many never returned home. It took us a long time to recover from that loss and we must never forget their sacrifice. It is time to reflect on that and on what it meant for our young country. Whilst we are at it let us commend our current military servicemen and women and those who have retired but are still with us—people who today have endured a day that was extremely long and extremely hot but who have done the Unknown Soldier and our country proud. We celebrate the lives of those men and women and we also embrace for ourselves the values they defended. 
The return of this soldier also tells the world that New Zealand despite being a relatively small nation has never shirked its international obligations. Wherever our shared values have been threatened we have stood shoulder to shoulder with our allies. And now that we have been reconciled with many of those we faced formerly on the battlegrounds abroad and have found them to be—and they are—people just like us it is perhaps time also to remember that it is the decisions politicians make that start wars while others have to fight and die in them. We as politicians should be reminded of that every day. 
To that effect we in New Zealand First feel that it would be fitting and timely for a national war memorial park to be established by the year 2014 a century on from the start of the First World War. This should be set in an environment of peace and tranquillity away from the noise of motorways and industry where people can reflect on the past and prepare for the present. It would be a permanent park and it would contain memorials to every national conflict that we as a people have been involved in. It would not celebrate war; rather it would reflect our gratitude for peace. We must also remember and always remember that it is not wars that make one great; it is sacrifice and service. That is what makes the sacrifice of this soldier and others worthwhile and explainable. 
We in New Zealand First support this motion and we wish to conclude with a quote from James K Baxter’s “Elegy for an Unknown Soldier”—a soldier who died in the desert of North Africa: 
So crown him with memorial bronze among  
The older dead child of a mountainous island.  
Wings of a tarnished victory shadow him 
Who born of silence has burned back to silence.