Mark Ron: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Mark Ron: Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
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RON MARK (NZ First) 
: 
 I rise to speak on behalf of New Zealand First and say we will be supporting the Human Rights (Women in Armed Forces) Amendment Bill. We will support the bill going through to the select committee and we look forward to any further discussion taking place there. 
It is wonderful really because moments are full of irony on some days. Irony oozes out of legislation such as this. I was a little bit pipped when Judith Collins took the line of debate that she did because I have already done a little bit of work. I have been refreshing my memory over one particular issue and that is the issue of Nancy Wake. I know it is not often that MPs tell the House what they are doing in terms of Queen’s honours but if I recall correctly my office has recommended Nancy Wake for a Queen’s honour at least three times—probably four times now—going back over some years. Each time that we have done that and seen no result we have been severely disappointed. 
This bill just begs some comment. How ironic it is that a bill should come into the House espousing the views and beliefs that women should be treated equally and have equal opportunities in the workplace and in particular in the armed forces. Such a bill speaks so highly of the desire of women to be involved in combat and at the sharp end of warfare. Yet the Government fails to recognise the one woman of this country who did exactly that. One would say on reading the newspapers that this is a case of hypocrisy. 
Anne Tolley 
: That’s right. 
RON MARK 
: I say to Anne Tolley that Labour has not been the only Government not to recognise Nancy Wake. Other Governments have refused to do so as well. But it is interesting; we could say the policy is consistent in that the Government refused to recognise Sergeant Manahi the Maori Battalion soldier who won the day at Takrouna—we all know that. It was a feat of arms that astonished Erwin Rommel himself and inspired the commander of the entire African theatre of the war to recommend him for a Victoria Cross. But he was not recognised. 
One would have thought that a Government led by a female Prime Minister—and in the time of a female Governor-General a female Attorney-General and a female Chief Justice—would give some consideration to this matter. This is particularly the case right now when a Government MP is saying women in the armed forces should be given equal rights and equal opportunities and that the Human Rights Act in its current form prevents women from having that privilege and that right. 
So where is Nancy Wake in this discussion today? Let us remind ourselves. The following words are not mine but come directly from an article called “Warriors: Nancy Wake—The White Mouse” on the website nzedge.com: “Nancy Wake was the Allies’ most decorated servicewoman of WWII”. She was not New Zealand’s most decorated servicewoman not Australia’s which often wants to claim her as its own not even the United States’ who would claim her as quick as a flash if it could get away with it; she was the Allies’ greatest servicewoman—we are talking Russia the United Kingdom the United States of America Canada South Africa India New Zealand Australia Fiji Samoa and France. The most highly decorated woman in the entire allied force is a New Zealand woman. We cannot recognise that but we will stand up here and make wonderful speeches about the right of contemporary women to join the Army to become a tank commander an infantry soldier or an SAS soldier—to fix bayonets and charge the enemy. 
The track record is not good is it? Of course as Judith Collins says we did the one female Air Force pilot we had out of a job—it costs a few million dollars to train these people—by taking the aircraft off her. I have to say that New Zealand First has no opposition to this legislative change at all. But we would like people to put their money where their mouths are. If we truly want to give women the opportunity to take up combat roles then for crikey’s sake we should recognise them when they do so. In particular we should recognise those women who reach such heights as Nancy Wake who ended up being a saboteur an organiser and a resistance fighter and who led an army of 7000 Maquis troops in guerrilla warfare in order to sabotage the Nazis. She was a woman who played a huge role in bringing freedom to France. She suffered the loss of a husband who was tortured and put to death by the SS after being captured by the Germans. Nancy Wake is a woman who still lives today and is still able to hear her country say: “We are sorry for overlooking you. We do recognise the part you played. You are an inspiration to women in the armed forces today.” We should do something about it.