O'Connor Simon: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
O'Connor Simon: Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2013. Volume:688;Page:8517. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
SIMON O’CONNOR (National—Tamaki) 
: 
 I rise to speak against this bill the Holidays (Full Recognition of Waitangi Day and ANZAC Day) Amendment Bill but in doing so I do acknowledge the work that Dr David Clark has done. At the heart of it is that my concern is that this bill uses Anzac Day and Waitangi Day as an excuse for a holiday. If we want to talk about more holidays then let us talk about that but this is talking about using Anzac Day and Waitangi Day as an excuse for a holiday. 
I would not dare to put words into the mouths of men who fought and died in Gallipoli. I am going to use my speech to allow them to speak for themselves. I have been looking over the diary of George Bollinger. He was born in Taranaki in 1890. At the age of 24 he headed off to war. He did not return but he left us his diaries and in them his experiences and his thoughts live on. He arrived at Gallipoli the day after 25 April 1915 which incidentally was a Sunday. He described the Monday following—the very first Anzac Day—as follows: “Monday 26th April 3.15 am. ‘Packs on’ was roared out. Torpedo destroyers are alongside to take us ashore. 9.40 am. On shore in the thick of it. The first casualty in our company was in my section. Just before dawn we were on the destroyers waiting for surf boats to take us ashore. Stray bullets were landing around us and suddenly Private Tohill who was standing just in front of me dropped with a bullet through his shoulder. Immediately after Private Swayne was shot in the forehead. It was a relief to get ashore. The Australians were frightfully cut about effecting a landing yesterday. They say there are at least 6000 casualties. They did heroic work and the whole world will know of it. We are in a gully immediately behind the firing line and will be called in to relieve at any moment. Two New Zealand battalions were in last night and got cut about. The Turks have overwhelming numbers and it is a perfect wonder how the Australians captured these heights.” 
He goes on: “In landing as many as 49 were killed in one boat and a whole regiment was practically wiped out. The din and roar and whistle of the missiles is awful. As we sit here the ambulance are passing with wounded on the stretchers. 5.00 pm. We climbed heights to take our place in reserve to firing line. We are right in the fire zone and saw some awful sights.” 
That was how the first Monday after the first Anzac Day was spent by the people we commemorate each year at dawn. The days that followed were no less harrowing. The lieutenant goes on: “Tuesday 27th April At daylight this morning a terrific artillery duel raged. The Turks put hundreds of shells onto our landing place. At 10.00 am we were marched north along the beach and as we got under heights we met crowds of wounded coming down. Oh how callous one gets. Word rushed down from above for Hawke’s Bay and Wellington-West Coast Companies to reinforce at the double as our fellows were getting massacred. We threw off packs and forgot everything in that climb up the cliffs. We fixed bayonets on reaching top and got into it. The country is terribly hilly and covered with scrub from four to five feet high. On we rushed against a rain of bullets and our men began to drop over before they fired a shot. We started to get mixed and were everywhere amongst the Australians. Our men were dropping in hundreds.” 
Darien Fenton 
: Tell us about your Government’s own legislation that allows the day to be transferred— 
SIMON O’CONNOR 
: This might be inconvenient to some in the House but these are the words of the men from the first Anzac Day. 
Darien Fenton 
: What about your Government? What about the Holidays Act 2010? 
SIMON O’CONNOR 
: It is a terrible inconvenient truth that those members want to shout down. I find that a terrible thing. 
The lieutenant carries on—and the House would do well to listen—“Wednesday 28th April We were relieved about 8 o’clock. Mostly our nerves were gone. We retired back and tried to rest: our casualties were very heavy. We manned the trenches again at 6 o’clock.” 
Denis O’Rourke 
: What’s the point of all this? Which bill are you talking to? 
Le’aufa’amulia 
 Asenati Lole-Taylor 
: Which bill is being described to us? 
SIMON O’CONNOR 
: I am going to pause there for just a moment. Again I know that it seems a terrible inconvenience to the House that they must listen to the history and the purpose of what we talk about around Anzac Day. It is very easy to try to turn this into a discussion of holidays and days off and how we might have a barbecue and so forth and yet you take a war diary of a man younger than just about everyone sitting in this House and you utter his words in this House and it is so inconvenient that the contempt of heckling begins. 
The diary continues: “Wednesday 28th April We were relieved about 8 o’clock. Mostly our nerves were gone. We retired back and tried to rest: our casualties were very heavy. We manned the trenches again at 6 o’clock. No sleep and nothing to eat just a craving for drink and the wounded always empty our bottles. The Turkish trenches are now on a ridge about 200 yards away. Our warships are shelling them but unfortunately have also accounted for a number of our casualties.” Second Lieutenant Bollinger survived Gallipoli and he went on to fight on other battlefields. He was wounded at Messines on 8 June 1917 and he died of his wounds 2 days later. Lieutenant Bollinger was just 27. 
I have read this because if one wishes to increase the number of paid holidays in New Zealand then let us have a conversation about that but let us not dishonour the horrors that befell so many people on 25 April 1915 by turning it into nothing more than a long weekend. Anzac Day is not a holiday and it should not be used as an excuse for a holiday. May they rest in peace. 
Brendan Horan 
: Mr Assistant Speaker.