Government’s Priorities
The Government’s stated intent underpinning policy related to veterans is ‘Respecting Veterans, Honouring Service’. This is substantiated by the broader principles of:
- Respecting Veterans
- Strengthening Communities
- Dignity for Older New Zealanders
The services provided to veterans support these principles and are focused on respecting the contribution made by veterans and honouring the service that they have given to the community.
Key Priorities
Respecting Vietnam Veterans
- Endorse the MOU as providing the basis for settlements of the Agent Orange issue.
- Provide Vietnam Veterans with free annual comprehensive medical assessments.
- Support the commitment to an ongoing review of international research relating to the effects of exposure to Agent Orange.
Listening to Veterans
- Commit to working with veterans and their representative organisations on matters affecting veterans.
- Ensure VANZ performs.
- Restore questions relating to war service to the census.
Recognising Service
- Support the review of the War Pensions Act 1954.
- Provide a grant to support to the three dedicated Veteran’s Homes.
- Increase the allowance for gallantry decorations.
Outcomes
In order to ensure that government’s expectations for the delivery of services to veterans is met and to support the achievement of the key government priorities; Veterans' Affairs New Zealand has identified the following outcomes:
Veterans are acknowledged and recognised for their service and sacrifice and the community is aware of the role veterans have played and continue to play in developing New Zealand as a nation.
Working in partnership with the NZDF, the impacts of service on eligible veterans and their dependants are monitored and they have information about and access to services and supports that promote wellbeing.
The veterans’ perspective is considered as part of government decision-making on issues that impact on their lives.
The Strategic Environment
The identification of veterans as a specific group within New Zealand society is an acknowledgement of the role veterans have played, and continue to play, in developing New Zealand as a nation.
Services have been provided to the veteran community by a variety of other agencies for a number of years. The delivery of those services has often not been well co-ordinated. In 2008 the decision was made to transfer all War Disablement Pension activity from the Ministry of Social Development to Veterans' Affairs New Zealand and to place Veterans' Affairs New Zealand within the New Zealand Defence Force. This strengthens Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand’s relationship with the serving personnel and creates a continuum from serving personnel to veteran. This is consistent with the fact that, in the long term, the care of veterans will be a recruitment and retention issue as the onus shifts from that of societal debt generated in a time of war, to government as an employer, taking responsibility for the impact of its decisions on personnel.
The Global Environment
New Zealand exists within a global environment that shapes the experience of veterans and challenges the way the New Zealand Government and New Zealand society responds to the experiences of veterans.
The role of New Zealand as an international citizen has evolved, and as a consequence, the role the military plays in support of the government’s foreign policy direction has evolved and ranges from warrior to peacemaker and peacekeeper.
Veterans also work globally, comparing experiences and the responses that governments make to those experiences.
The New Zealand Environment
There is no parallel social service framework for the provision of health and social assistance for veterans in New Zealand. The services and entitlements provided to veterans are, in the main, provided through the publicly funded health and disability systems and social assistance framework. It is important that the interface with these services is managed in a way that is responsive to veterans needs.
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