MILITARY COVENANT – WHAT COVENANT?
You might be surprised that the UK Government is reviewing a military COVENANT after 10 years so what is our Government doing to put a Covenant in place for our military personnel? Our allies all have Military Covenants in place but not so New Zealand because we are SPECIAL.. and we need a ‘Special Covenant ‘ On 25 May 2022 the Veterans Advisory Board reported that they were looking overseas at other COVENANTS to see if they could learn anything from them. Click HERE Interesting there is no timeframe published so again we wait. I can only hope that maybe by Christmas 2023 we are all singing from a different song sheet.
My read of the progress to the New Zealand Defence Covenant/Kawaneta is deserving of one of Winston Churchill’s famous quotes:
“I NO LONGER LISTEN TO WHAT PEOPLE SAY; I JUST WATCH WHAT THEY DO. BEHAVIOUR NEVER LIES.
To cut to nut, progress of the New Zealand Defence Covenant/Kawenata is simply appalling! Why? The Minister for Veterans [MfV] received the New Zealand Military Covenant/Kawenata Report on 29 July 2020. After two [2] years of near ZERO action the MfV now states: “The Veterans Advisory Board [VAB] is currently reviewing Defence Covenants in place overseas to help them identify: “sub paras * What * How * What.” Interestingly, there is no final report date to MfV. Go figure!
In real terms, MfV’s advisory is a rerun of everything in the 29 July 2020 Report. Perhaps, the New Zealand Covenant/Kawenata opportunity is shelved because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work! Fact. It is not only for what we do that we should be held responsible, but also for what we do not do! Moreover, the only person who never makes mistakes is the person who never does anything. Just saying!