ANZAC Day

At the end of her first Anzac Day speech as Governor-General, she said they included 500 men from the Cook Islands and 150 from Niue.

She says she unveiled a sculpture in Rarotonga recently to honour the Cook Islands soldiers who worked on the Arras tunnels as part of New Zealand's Pioneer Battalion.

"That expression of pride and sorrow served as a timely reminder of our shared experience of loss and the lasting impacts of war."

Photo: RNZ / Daniela Maoate-Cox Poppies pinned on by the descendants of Cook Island soldiers. 

The minister who is on her first visit to the island nation told guests that ANZAC Day is Australia’s most important national commemorative occasion.

“For Australia, the First World War was a loss of innocence, a coming of age, and a proof of nationhood. Each generation of Australians measures itself against the Anzacs’ courage and sacrifice’” Fierravanti-Wells said. 

She said the ravages of conflict in particular two world wars are far reaching.