The toxic $3.2billion legacy of Agent Orange
Incredible fourth estate journalism from one of NZs best journalists…
The Government has been left with a $3.2 billion bill for military veteran welfare, after the High Court sharply criticised Veterans’ Affairs over its cost-driven response to Tā Wira Gardiner’s claim that his fatal brain tumour was caused by Agent Orange in the Vietnam War.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister Chris Penk said the Government was reflecting on possible changes to the law after the High Court ruled that Veterans’ Affairs had been getting it wrong over Agent Orange and other veteran welfare claims since it came into force in 2014.
The new ruling was heavily critical of Veterans’ Affairs, saying it created an unnecessary “emotional toll” on Gardiner’s whānau for going back to the High Court, which had already ruled on key areas around Gardiner’s case in 2023.
Gardiner’s widow and former National Cabinet minister Hekia Parata – Lady Gardiner – told the Herald the case by Veterans’ Affairs was a “waste of taxpayers – and veterans – monies at best, and government bullying at worst”.
Gardiner made the claim before his death from a brain tumour in the hope it would improve access for fellow Vietnam veterans and others. The claim asserted the brain tumour was a likely result of the defoliant Agent Orange being sprayed in the jungle where he and others served.
Gardiner served 20 years in the Army, including as an infantry platoon commander in Vietnam, before holding a number of senior public service roles.
The judgment makes it easier for veterans to receive state support for issues relating to their military service. In doing so, it is projected that the cost of veteran welfare will rise sharply.
The Government’s books carry a $2.9b liability for veterans’ welfare over their lifetimes. The Gardiner case increases that liability by $3.2b to $6.1b.
The $3.2b judgment
Justice Karen Grau heard the case and in its judgment said:
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- Veterans’ Affairs should decide cases with benevolence and on their merits, rather than rejecting cases on technicalities;
- Veterans’ Affairs can’t narrow the rights of veterans out of concern over the cost of their support through a successful claim;
- Cases that are alike with similar facts should be treated in the same way, meaning modern veterans making claims under new legislation should get the same recognition as cases heard under an older law.
- Claims don’t always fit into the law’s strict pathways for support but there are alternate pathways for individuals cases available.
This is Minister Penk’s first great political challenge. Is he the good bugger we believe he is, or is he merely a tool for an insidious State forever riding ways too limit costs?
As a former member of the Armed Forces, he must be disgusted by what Veterans’ Affairs have been doing.
Look.
Whatever we think about War, (and I am really, really, really against war and am genuinely scathing of military deployments), but whatever you think about War, surely every single one of us can agree that whatever illness or injury suffered by soldiers during their duty, we MUST cover the costs of right?
We ask soldiers to put their lives at risk for the National Interest (however that is defined), and any injury they receive while putting their lives at risk MUST be covered by the State that asked them to do that in the first place!
That the toxic legacy of Agent Orange is still maiming and damaging the lives of Veterans should be a national embarrassment and the manner in which Veteran’s Affairs have used underhand tactics to rule Veterans out of receiving help should be a national disgrace.
We have seen time and time and time again, the State abuse people’s rights and then use the most deplorable means available to minimise the cost.
We saw it throughout the Inquiry into Historic Abuse where the State of NZ KNEW children in care had been tortured and abused but then used every underhand legal tactic to lower the cost to them.
It is unacceptable that the State of NZ is the b biggest abuser of human rights in the country and that they rig their systems to purposely be obtuse and cruel in the hope that deters people from applying for help in the first place.
When Jacinda talked about Kindness, many mocked that, but her demand for Kindness placed an obligation on Government Agencies to relax their malice in case it attracted media attention, under this new hard right Government, we have Government Agencies that seem to revel in their cruelty.
Don’t you dare turn up at ANZAC Day and puff your chest up with nationalism while Veterans’ Affairs are doing this sort of shit in the shadows.
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Even more of a disgrace is NZ was part of an aggressor coalition that dropped this shit on Vietnamese peasants, who are doubtless suffering just as much if not more than the veterans.
And let US Big Chem make it in New Plymouth where it wafted over the pregnant mums in the neighbouring suburb.
Well Mark if you think New Zealand was part of’ an aggressor coalition’ doubtless you also condemn China’s
Qin campaign against the Yue tribes (221–214 BC)
Han conquest of Nanyue (111 BC)
Trung sisters’ rebellion (40–43 AD)
Lady Triệu Rebellion (248)
Lý Nam Đế Rebellion (543)
Sui–Former Lý War (602)
Mai Thúc Loan Rebellion (713–723)
Phùng Hưng Rebellion (791)
Tĩnh Hải-Southern Han War (930)
Dương Đình Nghệ Rebellion (931)
2nd Tĩnh Hải-Southern Han War (938)
Former Lê-Song War (981)
Lý–Song War (1075–1077)
Mongol invasions of Đại Việt (1257–1288)
Ming invasion of Đại Ngu (1406–07)
Later Trần revolt (1407–1413)
Lam Sơn uprising (1418–1427)
Naval battle in the Gulf of Tonkin between Yang Yandi and the Lê dynasty (Dương Ngạn Địch) (1682)
Qing invasion of Đại Việt (1789)
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1945–1946)
Sino-Vietnamese War (1979)
Sino-Vietnamese conflicts (1979–1991) (including Johnson South Reef Skirmish (1988))
On a visit to Vietnam I found they hate China more than they do New Zealand or the USA.
Impressive and long Da (for short but not for long).
Hardly relevant though to the important issue now which we are attempting to survey. The relevant facts recently are startling enough thanks.
Hahah, sure freak. Meanwhile, Vietnam is honoring their heroic Chinese brothers who helped them kill Americans and American-lovers like you.
Getting overexcited MK. Better have a cup of tea and a lie down as the confrontations are endless and you’ll wear yourself out too soon.
So that makes everything right Mark,? No it doesn’t and this governments track record is appalling once again to save a few bucks. A fucking disgrace.
No, it doesn’t. Anyone alive who was involved in making the decision to collaborate with America against the Vietnamese should face justice. Those dead should have their graves desecrated.
Sure you are thinking right or left, CG? Mark made a reasonable comment so why you bother ?
Thought – We must care about our soldiers and their families affected, our people must not be abandoned as externalities after being sent to fight and then exposed to the callous use of destructive chemicals. as in Agent Orange. One question is, would any sensible administrator venture their own being to go into this conflict, and then why was it considered crucial? And lastly why should it be impossible to have a decent amount of money set aside each year to provide help, it seems a faulty attitude to amass a huge sum of costs and freeze thought. $3.2 billion is a theorist economist’s fancy, get with reality now.
New Zealand History :
1991 Video interview: https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/34544/agent-orange-the-lasting-impact-of-vietnam – short
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https://nzhistory.govt.nz › sites › default › files › documents › vietnam-fact-sheet8.pdf
Fact Sheet 8: The use of defoliants – Agent Orange
The US Air Force sprayed approximately 75 million litres (of which Agent Orange accounted for about 45 million litres) of concentrated herbicides, affecting an estimated 13% of South Vietnam’s land….
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The British first used Agent Orange as below. In the Encyclopaedia Britannica timeline I found no mention of it used in the Vietnam War from 1961 to 1972.
https://www.britannica.com/list/vietnam-war-timeline
Covers Vietnam war period 1954-1975
It does not seem to include herbicide, Agent Orange, deforestation. An inconvenient fact or…?
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Agent Orange – Wikipedia
Agent Orange was first used by British Commonwealth forces in Malaya during the Malayan Emergency. It was also used by the U.S. military in Laos and Cambodia during the Vietnam War because forests near the border …
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http://www.usssavage.org › HerbicideSprayMissions.html
Herbicide Spray Missions – usssavage.org
From 1961 to 1972, the U.S. military conducted a large-scale defoliation program aimed at destroying the forest and jungle cover used by enemy North Vietnamese and Viet Cong troops fighting against U.S. and South …
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Some people have devoted much of their lives trying to fight against bad chemicals and use of them virtually indiscriminately on people or anything.
https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article9221
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Ecocide law and Polly Higgins RIP : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polly_Higgins#
Could you imagine the backlash NZDF (VA) would have received from the Government had they agreed to add $3.2 Bn to veteran welfare without demur? If you can’t you’re in cloud cuckoo land. As a Vietnam veteran whose terminal illness has been attributed to Agent Orange I can’t but agree with the courts even though my condition was already recognised and accepted for treatment.
The huge sum of billions is part of the machiavellian plot of government and its advisors and minion economists, to not face up to reality now but amortise* things over future years under the banner of not leaving future citizens in unreasonable debt, have it all planned out. And everything is costed at top-class rates.
If you don’t know amortise, it is usually used in a business context. In this case the government’s mathematics spread the costs of providing assistance to Returned Servicemen (Veteran Affairs sounds so American), over a set number of years. And so there is limited money available each year for what is required now, immediately. Because of those future years of spending required for help required. So message from government can be taken as Please understand we are doing all we can afford – or, die soon and solve the problem.
* Dictionary https://www.dictionary.com › browse › amortize
Amortize definition: to liquidate or extinguish (a mortgage, debt, or other obligation), especially by periodic payments to the creditor or to a sinking fund..
Philosophical quotes from Sir Thomas Browne – who thought in the 1600s about things we are thinking now.
We all labour against our own cure, for death is the cure of all diseases.
Sir Thomas Browne 1605–82 English writer and physician: Religio Medici (1643)
also
It is a brave act to despise death; but where life is more terrible than death,
it is then the truest valor to dare to live.
https://allauthor.com/quotes/author/sir-thomas-browne/?topic=death
So government please do something for these Vietnam Veterans that is helpful for them. Also those who were on board the ships making a protest to the nuclear bombs tested by the French in the Pacific.
2015 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/287754/report-reveals-effects-of-mururoa-nuclear-tests
A government commissioned report has found defence force personnel on board frigates during the Labour government’s protest against French nuclear testing at Mururoa in 1973 were not exposed to harmful levels of radiation.
and
2023 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/488654/nuclear-test-nz-navy-veterans-seek-recognition
Te Ao Māori health 25 Apr 2023
Nuclear test NZ navy veterans seek recognition
By Aaron Smale of Newsroom
Tere Tahi, president of the Nuclear Test Veterans Association Photo: Newsroom / Aaron Smale
He was a 17-year-old kid from Te Kuiti when he was ordered onto the deck of a Navy ship and told to sit down with his back facing out to sea. He and his mates donned dark glasses and wore what was grossly inadequate protection. Then he saw the bones in his hands from the flash of a hydrogen bomb being detonated.
Ordered to stand up and turn around, Tere Tahi saw what should have been a frightening sight but his reaction was one of awe and wonder.
“It was the most beautiful thing. It was fantastic. It was fantastic seeing all the different colours in the blast. It was a marvellous experience to see something like that, but we didn’t know what effects it would have on us after that. We went in close to the fallout when the sea was being drawn towards the mushroom.”
Tahi had joined the Navy as a teenager and was stationed on the ship Rotoiti, one of two New Zealand ships that were sent to Christmas Island and witnessed the British testing hydrogen bombs in 1958. The legacy of those tests continues to affect those who saw them and has been passed down through their families.
“We were told to get on to the upper deck with anti-flash gear, put on dark glasses and to have our backs towards the detonation and when that was completed, we were told to turn and watch the blast. We had all this gear on and dark glasses and when it went off we could see the bones in our fingers, in our hands, with our hands over the dark glasses.
“I wasn’t scared, because we didn’t know what the after-effects would be.
“It was something that as a 17-year-old I think to myself not very many of my age group would be able to see something like that. A lot of us had illnesses through nuclear radiation, it’s in our genes now, the radiation.
“Everyone has suffered. I couldn’t say it gives you the proportion, but the majority of like the guys who witnessed it would have some ill effects from it. We lost a lot of our sailors.”
Tahi is now the president of the Nuclear Test Veterans Association in New Zealand and has taken on the fight to try and help veterans and their families affected by the impacts of being exposed to radiation. The association is having a reunion on April 28-30 in Palmerston North.
“I’ve set up some projects to help our veterans that have illnesses. What I want to do is give them some assistance helping them out with the illnesses. Some of them are finding it difficult to finance.”
The illnesses are not limited to the veterans themselves.
“Another problem that we faced with is a lot of our children, a lot of the veterans’ children have been born with deformities. It’s been very bad too. And that’s my final legacy – if you try and do something for them.”
The lack of recognition for those suffering the after-effects of military service continued on into the Vietnam War.
“Agent Orange [veterans] came to us and wanted their case put forward when we were putting our case through. And the same thing has happened to them and we’re still fighting our case.