Call for war memorial for Pacific Anzacs

Transcript

There's a call for Pacific island soldiers who fought in the First World War to be honoured alongside Anzac troops at New Zealand's main war memorials.  

Their families are also calling for the Government's help to attend centenary commemorations in Europe and the Middle East next year.

More than 450 mostly Cook Islanders and Niueans served in the Maori Pioneer Battalion and 2015, marks 100 years since the first soldiers left home for war.

Radio New Zealand's Pacific Issues correspondent, Karen Mangnall, reports.

The 150 Niuean soldiers who served in France and Egypt are remembered each year at a community Anzac Day service in Auckland, hosted by the Mutalau Ululauta Matahefonua Trust. This year more than 300 Niueans from all the villages turned out to lay floral tributes as each soldier's name was read out.

Among the guests was the new Minister of Pacific Island Affairs, Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga, and the Niue high commissioner, O'Love Tauveve Jacobsen, was quick to take advantage.

O'LOVE TAUVEVE JACBOSEN: You look at all these beautiful tributes and flowers today. Who's going to take them, and where are we going to put them? I'm going to ask the Minister. Niueans will all vote for your party, if he puts an initiative through his party in Government and erect a monument with the 150 names of those Niueans at the museum. [Crowd cheers and claps]

PESETA SAM LOTU-LIGA: Done. [Crowd cheers]

More than 300 Cook Islanders served in the First World War in France, the Sinai and Palestine. About 150 more signed up but never saw service before the war ended. This year the Cook Islands communities in Auckland and Wellington held their first ever Anzac services to honour the soldiers. One of the organisers, the National Party list MP, Alfred Ngaro, says soldiers from the Pacific deserve at least a plaque at Auckland's War Memorial Museum.

ALFRED NAGARO: Look we've done it in the Rose Gardens for the Netherlands, for the Koreans. I'm sure there has to be an appropriate place to honour our Niuean and Cook Island, in particular.

Mr Ngaro says a petition has gone to the Minister of Culture and Heritage, Chris Finlayson, for a plaque at the National War Memorial Park in Wellington, to be in place in time for next year's centenary commemorations.

And a trust is also being set up with the support of the Cook Islands consul-general to organise a big Anzac service for 20-15.

ALFRED NAGARO: This has just grown. We've got servicemen down in the Hawkes Bay and Gisborne who are actually saying, 'we also want to be a part of this'. So it's got out there, people are really, really keen and are interested, and want to commemorate this in the appropriate way.

Alfred Ngaro says the trust also wants to help families of Cook Islands soldiers who served in the First World War to attend centenary commemorations in Europe and the Middle East next year.

The Mutalau Ululauta Matahefonua Trust's chairman, Fuatatoa Tapatuetoa, says the Niueans would like to do the same.

FUATATOA TAPATUETOA: Yes, we would like that, Niueans to travel together with the people who are going there.There's quite a few who want to go but the difficulty is the finance.

Mr Tapatuetoa says the trust would like the Government to help with travel and organising next year's centenary commemorations in New Zealand.

FUATATOA TAPATUETOA: It's getting bigger every year and it's just our small group.

Mr Lotu-Iiga says he's happy to talk to the Auckland Museum about recognising the Niueans and Cook Island soldiers, and he'd like to hear from from both communities about how they'd like to mark the centenary next year.