Hon MEKA WHAITIRI (Minister for Veterans): I'm very pleased to announce to the House that, last night, Veterans' Affairs launched the Veteran, Family and Whānau Mental Health and Wellbeing Policy Framework—Te Arataki mō te Hauora Ngākau mō ngā Mōrehu a Tū me ō rātou Whānau. The policy framework examines the mental health and wellbeing of Aotearoa New Zealand's veterans, and I congratulate the round table that developed this valuable resource. This document synthesises health and defence evidence and expert knowledge and experiences, and identifies what needs to be done to advance the mental health and wellbeing of veterans and their whānau and family. The 2018 He Ara Oranga report on the Government's inquiry into mental health and addiction identified New Zealand veterans as being a vulnerable group. However, a framework was never developed to address our veterans' needs. In 2021, Veterans' Affairs began the process, bringing together key defence and health organisations, veteran advocacy groups, health practitioners, and veterans to focus on the mental health and wellbeing of veterans and their families. We acknowledge there are mental health problems for our veterans, and we wanted to look at the evidence and identify what New Zealand can do to improve support for the mental health and wellbeing of our veterans and their whānau.