Williams Andrew: National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Williams Andrew: National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 27 September 2012. Volume:684;Page:5782. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First) 
: 
 I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First as the veterans affairs spokesperson for New Zealand First for the National War Memorial Park (Pukeahu) Empowering Bill. We have spoken on this on a number of occasions in the last few days and it is very pleasing to see this come for its third reading. I have had the privilege over the years when travelling around the world to visit many very special places of commemoration to do with our loved ones who have lost their lives on behalf of New Zealand on behalf of the Commonwealth fighting for our country. I can recall a few years ago being in Flanders in Belgium and going to the Tyne Cot Cemetery where so many New Zealanders are buried and where the silver fern is on so many white headstones. It is a special place where the quietness the solitude and the peace are really something and it is quite an amazing experience to be there. And when you compare that to many other such memorial parks around the work in great capitals and in great cities around the world you see that similarly their memorials and their cenotaphs are given a high level of respect and are in an appropriate position as they are in cities such as Washington DC London Sydney Canberra and many other great cities of the world where their memorial parts are very much of significance. Just recently we were in Melbourne and were most impressed with the cenotaph in Melbourne and the wonderful large tomb there that you go into in Melbourne. The peace and serenity of the whole place was magnificent. 
So here in Wellington our capital city it is somewhat unfortunate that our National War Memorial our national Cenotaph the National War Memorial Carillon and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior have a major State highway State Highway 1 marching right across the face of them with busy traffic noise which is not conducive to what should be a very respected place for our nation. So this National War Memorial Park is to be completed by 2015 for the 100th commemoration of the Gallipoli situation of World War I and it is most fitting that this is completed and that we have a National War Memorial Park with an area of green an area of planted gardens of trees and of just peacefulness so that those national memorials and the national Cenotaph do have a much better backdrop than the current roading situation. 
It is very pleasing that the Australian Government is recognising the significance as well alongside us as our Anzac friend and providing $5 million towards it to include an Australian memorial within the park to mark that significance between Australia and New Zealand and of how many Australian and New Zealand soldiers lost their lives at Gallipoli and in many other theatres of war. 
It is unfortunate that the Green Party is not supporting this because of the process. It is understandable that the process has been pressure-cooked and steamrolled somewhat to get this done but we cannot miss the deadline we cannot miss 2015 for the Gallipoli commemorations and we cannot risk there being any hold-ups on it. So in situations like this there are certain circumstances where really there should be full cross-party support to ensure that we get this completed. 
Moving a major road—trenching it and undergrounding it—is no simple task and there will be a major component in it that has to be done. They do not want to have any hiccups with it because it would be a great shame if they did not meet the deadline and therefore the whole essence of getting it done by the 100th anniversary would be lost. So in that respect New Zealand First does support this. We will give it all our support and we will ensure that we lend whatever support we can to the Government and to all the other parties—to the Wellington City Council to the RSA and Veterans Affairs—to ensure that this can be expedited in the fastest manner possible so that we will all be very proud as New Zealanders in 2015 to have a very fitting park of national standard. 
 But at the same time as I mentioned in the House yesterday we cannot just be reliant on marking the 100th year of Gallipoli of marking the recognition of those who have fallen on behalf of this country and of marking a significant part of our history of New Zealand without also recognising that we still have issues around veterans’ affairs here today and tomorrow. There are still veterans in this country who are suffering as a result of going off to many of those theatres of war—going off to Korea going off to Malaya going off to Viet Nam and going off to other more recent theatres of war. They have issues around their health around their family health and around various things that occurred to them during their time of service. So although this project is putting $12 million towards the park and then of course a more significant $70 million - odd to underground State Highway 1 that is a sizable chunk of money and I would like to think that at the same time while we are giving strong multiparty support to getting this project done there would be increased multiparty support and certainly significant support from Government circles to recognise the affairs of veterans who are alive and with us today and who need a lot more support than they are currently being afforded. 
In that respect as I mentioned also yesterday the War Pensions Act review that was carried out 2 years ago by the Law Commission made 170 recommendations for a review of various conditions for our veterans. New Zealand First would like to see much more progress much faster progress on that review being enacted. We are continuing to ask the Government to move on that. Many of these veterans are becoming very elderly very sick and their wives and families are suffering as well. Their wives and families and those around them are being affected as a result. We do have a duty of care in this Parliament and in this country to ensure that our veterans are also being well taken care of. So let us sort out the bricks and mortar of the park sort out the bricks and mortar of the Cenotaph the National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior but let us not forget the living flesh that is here today the veterans who also similarly need that financial support and need that moral support from this Parliament to also take care of them. In closing New Zealand First supports this bill and we welcome this third reading being completed today.