Flag lowering ceremony

E nga mana, e nga reo, nga rangatira, nga apiha me nga toa o Te Ope Kātua o Aotearoa, nga rangatira me nga apiha o Nga Pirihimana o Aotearoa, e huihui nei, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou, kia ora tātou katoa. 

Distinguished guests, leaders, officers and sailors, soldiers and airmen and women of the New Zealand Defence Force, leaders and officers of the New Zealand Police; ladies and gentlemen, I extend warm greetings and wishes of good health to you all.

I specifically acknowledge: Dr Habiba Sarabi, Governor of Bamyan Province; Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman, Minister of Defence; Lt Gen Rhys Jones, Chief of Defence Force; Helene Quilter, Secretary of Defence; Peter Marshall, Commissioner of the New Zealand Police—tēnā koutou katoa. 

I also acknowledge the Official Secretary at Government House who was here for the ceremony when the New Zealand flag was raised for the first time in Bamyan in 2003!

It is a great honour for Janine and me to be here today as the New Zealand flag is lowered over Kiwi Base in Bamyan province for the last time.  The New Zealand flag has flown here for nearly 10 years while the New Zealand Defence Force provincial reconstruction team has been based in Bamyan. 

Under our flag, several thousand  New Zealanders, members of all three armed services - the Royal New Zealand Navy, the New Zealand Army and the Royal New Zealand Air Force - have served here.  Some have served in Afghanistan on more than one occasion.  Working alongside our Service personnel have been New Zealanders from the New Zealand Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (diplomats and development aid personnel), civilian contractors and other agencies.

Together with the people and government of Bamyan province and our international partners, they have devoted their efforts to bringing peace and security to this province.  Together they have sought to deliver projects in security, health, education, agriculture, economic development and power generation.  Together, they have delivered real results and made a real difference to improving the lives of the people of Bamyan. 

And together they have mourned with all New Zealanders as service here has claimed the lives of 10 of our fellow Kiwis.  Today, as the New Zealand flag is lowered for the last time here, we also recall the times when it has flown at half-mast. 

Today we recall again the service of Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell DSD; Private Kirifi Mila; Corporal Doug Grant; Corporal Leon Smith; Corporal Douglas Hughes; Lance Corporal Pralli Durrer; Lance Corporal Rory Malone; Lance Corporal Jacinda Baker; Private Richard Harris; and Corporal Luke Tamatea.  They served with distinction, they served with honour and they will be remembered.  And we remember too their families and friends at home who grieve for them still.

The New Zealanders who have served here have been proud to do so.  They came here knowing the risks that service here entailed, and the dangers that claimed 10 young lives.  They came here because they were proud to follow in the footsteps of all New Zealanders who have left our shores to resist tyranny, to defend democratic values and to bring peace to troubled lands. 

They came here because they were proud to follow in the footsteps of all New Zealanders who have served as peacekeepers - from places as diverse as Bosnia in Europe; Timor-Leste, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific; and the Sinai, Lebanon and Iraq in the Middle East; and Korea in the more recent past.  They came here because they believed what they were doing was right; and won the respect of the local people because of their professionalism and their ability to engage and relate to local people. 

The New Zealanders who have served here have taken pride in learning of the people and remarkable history of this part of Afghanistan. 

Sitting astride the famous Silk Road that joins Europe to Asia, Bamyan has been a meeting place of different peoples and diverse cultures for thousands of years.  The men and women who followed Alexander the Great, Genghis Kahn and Marco Polo and many others have all made their mark.  

It is a place where people have met in peace, but sadly all too often in conflict and violence.  Its people have suffered years of oppression and the wanton destruction of their sacred sites.

Many challenges remain for Bamyan and for Afghanistan.  Years of upheaval and violence cannot be undone in a day.  Ultimately, it will be for the people of Bamyan and Afghanistan to ensure the seeds that we have together sown, will grow, flourish and establish strong and enduring roots.

The New Zealanders who have served here are proud of their efforts, working alongside Afghan security forces, to bring stability to this region. 

It has allowed children - boys and girls - to go to school and play in the fields.  It has allowed parents to take their children to health centres for essential treatment.  It has allowed farmers to sow their crops and tend their livestock, and men and women to establish small businesses.  And it has allowed the people of Bamyan to have some sense of normality and to glimpse a future where their children and grandchildren can one day live in peace.

The New Zealanders who have served here are proud of the friendships and relationships they have made.  Those strong relationships, built on respect and trust, have underpinned their successes in changing lives for the better.

Crib 21—as our flag is lowered for the last time; you begin the more than 13,000km trip back to your homes and families in New Zealand. 

Like all previous contingents of New Zealanders who have served here, you leave a great legacy of which you can be proud.  There is the legacy of projects completed.  There is the legacy of honourable service rendered and sacrifices made.  There is the legacy of friendships established and not forgotten.  And there is the legacy of lives transformed for the better. 

We return home with our flag, and proud of what we have achieved together.  Kia ora, kia kaha, kia manawanui, huihui tātou katoa.