Let's talk about the New Zealand Defence Force and it's refusal to enlist a young woman because she was born in Iraq.

She came here when she was three, when her parents fled the war in the early 90s. her name is Warda Jawad, and she's now 25.

She applied for a role as an army psychologist. She's doing her Masters at the moment at Massey University.

She has no memory of the first three years of her life in Iraq, but she understands the culture and she speaks Arabic.

Warda ticked all the boxes, she worked with a personal trainer to meet the fitness levels required by the Defence Force, and she had laser eye surgery as well. Another requirement is 20-20 vision.

So it was a long process but everything was going along nicely, and then she received a call.

The army recruiter told her they had rejected her application because she wouldn't be able to pass a security clearance.

The problem was her place of birth, Iraq, and she'd also spent close to two years studying medicine in Oman, in the gulf.

So, that was that. Sorry, she was told, but this is where it ends.

Warda then contacted the human rights commission and the Defence Force was invited to enter into mediation. They declined that offer.

They did, however, cite a section of the human rights act which says you can deny a person employment based on their place of origin where national security is an issue.

So quite what that means, I don't know.

Does it mean you can be denied an employment opportunity if your ethnic homeland is a mess? A failed state?

And what are the implications of that for the Syrian refugees who we're now accepting in greater numbers?

What will happen when those children grow up?

Will they be denied roles in the Defence Force, or perhaps the police?

I would think an Arab-speaking New Zealander with a strong cultural knowledge of the middle east would be an asset to the Defence Force, and in particular, as a psychologist. I fact, i know they would be.

The Defence Force says it's reviewing its decision and it will make contact with Warda soon.

But what a mistake this was, and yet another example of how far we need to travel when it comes to understanding and accepting the modern multi-ethnic and multicultural face of New Zealand.