Don Brash
National Party Leader

25 April 2005

Work with allies on defence, Brash tells dawn service

New Zealand should maintain strong defences and work with likeminded allies to maintain safety in the region, Opposition leader Don Brash told the Anzac Day dawn service at the Wellington Cenotaph.

Dr Brash, accompanied by wife Je Lan, spoke at the service this morning. He later went on to lay a wreath at the National Anzac Day service at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

Speaking to a large group who gathered for the dawn service in spite of the bitter cold, Dr Brash said that while remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for their country in various conflicts over the years, New Zealand also needed to reflect on the ultimate lesson: that the country should never be caught unprepared.

“The ultimate lesson is that we should never be caught unprepared, that we should have strong defences, and work with likeminded allies to maintain safety in the region, whether the threat is from a belligerent state, or the sinister evil of our age, the international terrorist.”

Dr Brash said New Zealand should work diligently for peace, and to improve relations with countries in the region.

“But we dishonour the memory of the Anzacs if we allow our defence forces to atrophy in what is clearly an unstable international environment.”

Ends

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