Winning recognition for NZ War Hero Malone was harder than getting Kiwibank

Winning recognition for World War I war hero, Colonel Malone, was an even harder job than winning the struggle to establish a New Zealand-owned nation-wide bank, Progressive Party leader, Jim Anderton, said today.

"I had a busy political year in 1989.

"I resigned from the Labour Party.

"I pledged to myself that I would be in politics long enough to see a new nationwide, New Zealand-owned bank established offering lower fees after the unfortunate decision to sell the former Post Office Savings Bank, as well as most of our New Zealand-owned financial institutions, to overseas owners.

"And I also made a pledge to myself that at the same time I would try to achieve public recognition for Colonel Malone and the Wellington Regiment for what they sacrificed and what they represented.

"I had no idea back in 1989 that it would take longer to get recognition for our unsung hero than it would take to establish Kiwibank," the Progressive leader said.

"The reason I first began lobbying for recognition for Colonel Malone was because it just struck me as a deep injustice that his heroism had failed to be properly recognised by the country for which he had lost his life.

"It was also a significant injustice because the campaign that this unsung hero fought helped forge the hard steel of what was to become our national identity and our destiny as a proud, independent nation state," Jim Anderton said.

On Monday, August 8, Jim Anderton will proudly speak at the unveiling of the plaque in Colonel Malone's honour at the Grand Hall, Parliament Building and at the Publication of Malone Papers at the National Library on Molesworth Street.

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