ANZAC poppies are made of fabric. They represent the red poppies that were flowering when so many soldiers from Australia and New Zealand were killed at Gallipoli during World War I. Listen to April 24th 2010 for more background to ANZAC day. These poppies have been made by intellectually disabled people in Christchurch since 1931. They make 1.3m poppies each year, by hand, and they take pride in the work that they do. They also feel proud when they see people wearing these poppies that they have made. They get paid to do this work and that also makes them feel proud that they can earn a living.

The money from the sale of these poppies supports war veterans and their families. War veterans are old soldiers who fought in Korea or Vietnam.

Now the RSA – Returned Servicemen’s Association – has decided it will be cheaper to get the poppies made overseas. They gave the contract to an Australian company which will use fabric from China. This way, they will save $150,000. This means more money for war veterans but less for the intellectually disabled people in Christchurch. One charity gets more but another gets less.

Questions

Some people say that soldiers fought for their country. They fought for all people in New Zealand, including intellectually disabled people, to give them a good life. Other people say that China can provide cheap goods so we should buy from China. What do you think?

Do you think many people will boycott ANZAC poppies in future?