Army veteran Kane Te Tai, who helped co-found a veterans charity, says not enough is done for former service members in New Zealand.
Photo: Supplied
Te Tai, who served in Afghanistan, helped set up the No Duff Trust in 2017 to provide immediate welfare assistance to past and present members of the New Zealand Defence Force.
He believes the government only seems to want to know about veterans around Anzac Day but every other day they do not seem to care.
"I do hear a lot of veterans who talk about how the public don't value them but it's more about the government."
Te Tai said this was reflected in the sort of money spent on other projects.
"They don't really want to get into helping veterans you know. They may give the RSA a bit of money but there are places like No Duff, you know, fighting it out on the ground - day in, day out, that's their only purpose - yet they can't seem to get new money."
He said veterans were divided over whether they got enough respect from the public.
"Some veterans just kind of want to slink away into a corner and have a smile for the time they did and just get on with their lives, whereas some others who want people to congratulate them and stuff like that. You are always going to get that no matter what walk of life you are in."
"Personally I think there isn't a lot of acknowledgement from the public at all."
He said No Duff's only agenda was to ensure that at risk veterans got help.
"No Duff is out there in the forefront straight away, no questions asked, they are just in there. If you are in trouble as a veteran they will be out there and try and help you."