16 July 2013

Dunne Welcomes Maori Affairs Committee Support For Nepata Brothers

UnitedFuture leader Peter Dunne has welcomed the Māori Affairs Committee’s recommendation that the Nepata brothers be compensated for severe injuries both received in separate accidents, while serving with the New Zealand Army.

Mr Dunne chaired the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Select Committee which made a similar recommendation in 2003 for compensation of the brothers for their injuries, however, that was rejected by the government at the time.

“Of course, I welcome the Māori Affairs Committee’s recommendation.

“I have always felt the brothers received an extremely raw deal when their original petition was not acted upon by the government of the day, and I see this latest recommendation as an opportunity to right what has been an awful wrong.

“I have been separately pursuing this matter with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, following a recent television programme, and I truly hope that the outcome is more positive for the Nepata brothers this time around,” he says.

Mr Dunne says the situations faced by the brothers were unique, and it is ”simply wrong” that they have denied proper compensation for so long.

ENDS

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