Governor-General pays tribute to fallen servicemen and women in Anzac Day address

April 25, 2021

Dame Patsy Reddy honoured those who have served in conflicts past and present.

New Zealand’s Governor-General paid tribute to fallen servicemen and women during her Anzac Day address this morning in Wellington.

Dame Patsy Reddy reflected back on the meaning of sacrifices made by New Zealanders in war and the future they never had the chance to live. 

“I think about the young men, who if they lived would have been grandparents by now like I am,” Reddy said at the Anzac Day dawn service at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington.

“That’s just life, it wasn’t fair.” 

She added that the military personnel who died lost the opportunity to “leave their mark” on their local communities and families. 

“You cast your mind back over the years when you get older and you think about a lot of things, you realise you’re lucky to be alive.” 

This year is Dame Patsy's last Anzac Day as Governor-General, with each Governor-General appointed for five-year terms.

At the Auckland War Memorial service, Mayor Phil Goff remembered the thousands of servicemen and women who have died fighting for New Zealand. 

“We pray today, that those who sacrificed their lives did not do so in vain. But that we one day recognise the better world, the more just and peaceful world that they fought and died for.” 

Goff noted the personal connection to Anzac Day, having lost family members in World War I and II, as well as losing his nephew in 2007 who was touring in Afghanistan. 

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