Greens salute bravery of Corporal Apiata VC

green-party

Tue Jul 17 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Greens salute bravery of Corporal Apiata VC

Tuesday, 17 July 2007, 2:45 pm
Press Release: Green Party

16 July 2007

The Green Party supported the motion in Parliament today to salute the bravery of Corporal Willy Apiata, and his receipt of the Victoria Cross.

"We were happy to join other parties in the House in offering our congratulations to Corporal Willy Apiata," said Green Party Defence spokesperson, Keith Locke.

"We think Corporal Apiata and his family will welcome the cross-party support, even though the Green Party did not support the commitment of SAS troops to Afghanistan," Mr Locke says.

" The Greens still regard the American-led war in the south of Afghanistan as being fought with too little regard to civilian casualties. It has been a largely counterproductive conflict that is contributing most unfortunately, to a resurrection of the despicable Taliban.

"However, the Greens do not see our criticism of the Afghan war as detracting in any way from our recognition of the bravery of Corporal Apiata.

"Corporal Apiata is a credit to New Zealand, and to Maoridom. He carried out his duties to his unit with great heroism in the best tradition of Kiwi soldiers. We salute him, " Mr Locke says.

ENDS

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from Green Party on InfoPages.