Rick Barker to Veterans' Summit in Washington D.C

Veterans Affairs Minister, Rick Barker departs for Washington D.C today to attend the 2008 Veterans' Affairs International Ministerial Summit where he will deliver a paper on post deployment care for veterans in New Zealand.

The Summit is held bi-annually, and will be hosted this year by the United States of America. The countries attending are the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

The last International Ministerial Summit was held in conjunction with the ‘Shared Memory’ conference, in Paris in October 2006.

"It is important that Ministers and government representatives charged with the care and support of veterans have the opportunity to share information and come together to discuss veterans' issues," Mr Barker said.

"I welcome the opportunity to discuss the management of the Veterans' Affairs portfolio with my international counterparts and share aspects of the New Zealand experience with them. Many of our veterans have fought side by side in the same conflicts and this has resulted our veterans' communities facing similar issues on their return home."

Mr Barker will also call on the Department for Homeland Security and Federal Emergency Management Agency in his capacity as Civil Defence Minister.

The Minister will return to New Zealand on 4 May 2008.