In accordance with section 15 of the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 (“Act”), I hereby give the following notice.

Notice

1. I declare service in the Republic of Iraq and the airspace above it during the following periods to be operational service for the purposes of the Act:
   • between 1 November 2002 and 31 March 2003 (inclusive);
   • between 1 May 2003 and 30 September 2004 (inclusive); and
   • between 1 January 2005 and 31 October 2013 (inclusive).
2. I declare that the declaration for service in the Republic of Iraq will supersede the declaration for service with the United Nations Monitoring, Verification, and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) from November 2002 to March 2003 that was made by the Honourable Judith Collins on 4 March 2010.
3. This entitles any member of the New Zealand Armed Forces or the New Zealand Defence Force covered by this declaration (and their spouse, civil union partner or de facto partner) to be buried in the part of any cemetery set aside by a local authority for the burial of:
   • members of Her Majesty’s Forces that have undertaken operational service; and
   • the spouses, civil union partners and de facto partners of members of Her Majesty’s Forces that have undertaken operational service.
4. Members of other Commonwealth Forces who have undertaken the same operational service and their spouses, civil union partners and de facto partners may also be interred.
5. The Minister of Defence and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association were consulted prior to the making of this declaration, as required by the Act.

Dated this 10th day of November 2016.

Hon CRAIG FOSS, Minister of Veterans’ Affairs.