The ability to determine what events constitute an “emergency” under the 9.19 War Pensions Act is vested in the Minister responsible for war pensions, currently the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, by virtue of sections 70A, and 80A of the War Pensions Act. These sections state: 70A Service in connection with any emergency If any question arises as to whether or not any member of the forces while on service was serving in connection with an emergency for the purposes of this Part , that question must be referred to and be decided by the Minister (as defined in section 2(1)). [emphasis added] 80A Service in connection with any emergency If any question arises as to whether or not any member of the forces while on service was serving in connection with an emergency for the purposes of any provision of this Act, that question shall be referred to and be decided by the Minister. In practice, on the advice of Veterans’ Affairs New Zealand (Veterans’ Affairs) 9.20 and the NZDF, Cabinet makes the decision, and the Minister signs a declaration that assigns emergency status to a particular theatre or deployment. The declaration document is a statement declaring a certain deployment or conflict to be an emergency for the purposes of the War Pensions Act. The declaration gives basic detail of the time and place of service that is covered. The following table lists the declared wars or emergencies under the 9.21 War Pensions Act to date. W AR o R   E MERGENC y D  ATES o F   S ERVICE World War I 4 August 1914 11 November 1918 World War II 3 September 1939 14 August 1945 (J Force 1946 1952) Korea 23 August 1950 27 July 1957 United Nations Military India and Pakistan (UNM o  GIP) Nations India-Pakistan o (UNIP o  M) January 1952 31 March 1974 United Nations Truce Supervision o  rganisation (UNTS o  ), and its detachments: the United Nations y  emen (UN yo M), the United Nations Group in Lebanon (UN o  GIL) or the United Nations o  peration in the Congo (UN July 1954 31 March 1974 o  peration Grapple 1957 1958 on HMNZS R The Malayan Emergency 18 June 1948 31 July 1960 Thai/ Malay Border 31 July 1960 Mid June 1964 Indonesian Confrontation 1 August 1964 31 December 1966 Vietnam 29 May 1964 31 December 1972 Vietnam Air Force Service in 41 Squadron 1 January 1973 21 April 1975 Service with the civilian surgical team at the Qui Nhon Provincial State Hospital Vietnam December 1963 March 1975 125 Towards a new veterans’ entitlements scheme: A discussion paper