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 as defined, from 1 July 1988 up to and including 30 June 2023, to be operational service for the purposes of the Act.

  Republic of Iraq – The geographic area of Iraq includes all of the sovereign territory defined by the boundaries with neighbouring states through recognised agreements. These include recognised pre-
  independence agreements with neighbouring Turkey including the 1926 and 1927 Iraq-Turkey agreements and protocols; with neighbouring Syria including the 1932 and 1933 Iraq-Syria agreements and reports; with neighbouring Iran including the 1975 Iran-Iraq Treaty; with neighbouring Jordan including the 1984 Iraq-Jordan Border treaty; with neighbouring Saudi Arabia including the 1981 Iraq-Saudi Arabia Frontier Treaty; and with neighbouring Kuwait including the results of the 1993 UN Iraq-Kuwait Boundary Demarcation Commission. The geographic area of Iraq also includes the 12nm territorial sea area in accordance with Law No. 71 of 1958, extending from the baseline defined in the 9 May 2011 UN Maritime Zone Notification (MZN.83.2011.LOS).

2. I declare that the declaration for service in the Republic of Iraq will supersede the previous declaration for:

• Service in the Republic of Iraq from 1 July 1988 up to and including 30 June 2022, made on 18 August 2020 by the Honourable Ron Mark, Minister for Veterans.

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 His Majesty’s Forces that have undertaken operational service; and
• the spouses, civil union partners, and de facto partners of members of His 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. As required by the Act, consultation occurred prior to the making of this declaration.

Dated this 7th day of December 2022.

Hon MEKA WHAITIRI, Minister for Veterans.