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 Timor-Leste as defined, from 1 August 1999 up to and including 31 July 2019, to be operational service for the purposes of the Act.
   Timor-Leste – The geographic area of Timor-Leste includes all the sovereign territory of the eastern half of the island of Timor based on the boundaries defined in the 1904 Convention for the Demarcation of Portuguese and Dutch Dominions on the Island of Timor and the subsequent 26 June 1914 Arbitral Award, as well as the Ambeno (Oecussi) exclave and all outlying islands pursuant to the territory of Timor-Leste including Pulau Ataro (Kambing) and Pulau Jaco (Yako). The geographic area also includes the 12nm territorial sea extending from the low water line as defined in the National Parliament Law No. 7/2002.
2. I declare that the declaration for service in Timor-Leste supersedes the declaration made on 4 March 2010 for service as part of:
• the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), the United Nations Sanctioned International Force East Timor (INTERFET) from 30 August 1999, and subsequent service with the United Nations Transitional Authority East Timor (UNTAET) from 23 February 2000 onwards.
3. This entitles any member of the New Zealand Defence Force covered by this declaration (and their spouse, civil union partner or de facto partner) to have their remains 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 or de facto partners may also be interred.
5. As required by the Act, consultation occurred prior to the making of this declaration.

Dated this 29th day of October 2019.

Hon RON MARK, Minister for Veterans.