Concerns over Aramoana bravery medal heading offshore

Wednesday, 11 April 2018

A bravery medal awarded to a police officer killed in the Aramoana massacre shouldn't have gone overseas, the Police Association says.

Sergeant Stewart Guthrie was awarded the George Cross medal for bravery – the second-highest Commonwealth award after the Victoria Cross, and the highest medal that can be awarded to a civilian.

Guthrie and 12 others were killed by gunman David Gray in the coastal Otago settlement of Aramoana on November 13, 1990.

After Guthrie's widow died, their children decided to sell the medal. It was bought by British billionaire businessman Lord Michael Ashcroft.

READ MORE: Flashback: The Aramoana massacre

The deal was approved by New Zealand's Ministry of Culture and Heritage, but the move has angered the New Zealand Police Association.

In an article in this month's Police News, the association noted police were not asked for an opinion, nor offered a chance to buy the medal.

The decision to let the medal – viewed as a taonga – head offshore 'raised concerns'.

A police spokeswoman said the sale of Guthrie's George Cross was 'entirely a matter for his family, and New Zealand Police holds no view about the outcome of the sale'.

'We recognise however that some individuals within police may hold personal views about the medal going offshore.'

Guthrie's sacrifice would be remembered by police 'as it always has been, regardless of the medal's final location', she said.

His sacrifice was recognised every year, both at the Police Remembrance Day service on September 29 and on the anniversary of his death.

Ashcroft said he wanted to assure New Zealanders that 'this is a much-treasured decoration that will be safe and secure in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery for a very long time to come'.

The gallery is based at London's Imperial War Museum London and includes the largest collection of Victoria Crosses in the world.