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 Bougainville as defined, from 1 October 1997 up to and including 30 June 2003, to be operational service for the purposes of the Act.

  Bougainville - The Autonomous Region of Bougainville was formerly a province of, and is now a self-governing region of, the nation of Papua New Guinea. The Autonomous Region of Bougainville is located at the most eastern extent of archipelagic waters claimed by the nation of Papua New Guinea. The Autonomous Region of Bougainville includes the islands of Bougainville, Buka and several small outlying islands and atolls, and internal jurisdiction extends three nautical miles from those islands.

2. I declare that the declaration for service in Bougainville will supersede the previous declarations for:

• Service in Bougainville as part of the Truce Monitoring Group from 1 October 1997 to 30 April 1998 and the Peace Monitoring Group from 1 May 1998 to 30 June 2003 made on 4 March 2010 by the Honourable Judith Collins, Minister of Veterans’ Affairs.

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.