April 26, 2023
All not equal for returned ANZAC
Greens co-leader Marama Davidson says Anzac Day was a reminder all returning soldiers were not treated the same.
She says many came back damaged, with the horrors they had experienced sowing the seeds of intergenerational trauma.
Maori were also denied the support back into civilian life which the government gave their pakeha comrades.
Her own hapu in Whirinaki had land taken to resettle servicemen.
“Our maunga Te Ramaroa and the best parts of it and the top of it were gifted to pakeha returned war soldiers without us knowing or having any say in it while our own returned soldiers were not treated at all as fairly and we lost a lot of land in that way and some of the best parts of it,” Ms Davidson says.
She says it’s important to acknowledges the sacrifice of war, but it’s also important to keep talking about the need to find peaceful means to resolve conflict.