RSA ducks for cover in Warrior crossfire

With the fuss over ageing rocker John Farnham's Anzac Cove snub still lukewarm, our old soldiers moved swiftly yesterday to avoid slighting the Warriors rugby league team.

They insist that they never objected to the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior being called that because it might sound like, well, a tomb for a rugby league player - although that would understandably be something to avoid, given the Warriors' dismal near-bottom finish last season.

Yet officials told Prime Minister Helen Clark, who happens to be patron of the Mt Albert Rugby League Club, about the Returned Services Association's apparent concerns as the Cabinet debated the name for the tomb to hold the repatriated remains of a soldier killed in France in World War I.

The RSA, a briefing paper to Helen Clark said, wanted the tomb dedicated to an unknown "soldier". The reasoning was that "warrior" sounded too aggressive, and was usually associated with a Maori warrior or a league player. It would be too grand a term, and would not represent those who were in the medical corps rather than frontline fighters.

But a tomb for a warrior it became, and yesterday the RSA was astonished to hear that it is said to have objected to the term because of possible league connections.

"We can't have Johnny Farnham upset and the Warriors upset in the same week," RSA president John Campbell told the Herald.

He said no formal objection was ever made on league grounds, although it was true the RSA wanted a Tomb of an Unknown Soldier.

At best, Mr Campbell said, someone might have made an off-hand remark about league and the Warriors - although he was not aware of one - but it was never a formal view and no slight would have been intended.

He said that in the end the RSA agreed with the Defence Force, which supported warrior over soldier, arguing that it better represented the three services - Navy, Air Force and Army - and New Zealand's Maori traditions.

Ministry for Arts, Culture and Heritage papers released under the Official Information Act show that its officials moved over time from supporting warrior to supporting soldier.

It considered there might be more negative connotations to the term warrior.

However, the Cabinet agreed with the Defence Force.

A spokesman for the ministry, which prepared the briefing paper for the Prime Minister, said last night that the RSA had not formally used league as a reason for objecting to the term warrior.

It is thought the matter may have been mentioned in a phone call between a ministry employee and an RSA staff member.

The papers also indicate a cost blowout in establishing the tomb at the National War Memorial in Wellington.

While the final costs are estimated to have been around $3 million, 2001 papers suggested the tomb and repatriation could cost as little as $150,000.