.......while PM extends commitment to helping Ukraine
Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta has covered a raft of portfolio issues in a speech she delivered to….
Sorry, but we don’t know. The speech notes posted on the Government’s official website tell us neither where or to whom she was speaking.
There were no clues in the headline (Why the Pacific way matters for regional security) nor in the introductory paragraph:
I want to set out – Aotearoa NZs Independent Foreign Policy and Why the Pacific Matters for Regional Security. Indeed much of the emphasis in foreign policy has been the impact of Russia’s unlawful aggression in Ukraine, tensions in the Indo-Pacific, North Korea’s provocations, internal conflict in Sudan alongside ongoing unrest across other parts of the world, increasing economic pressures and the real impacts of global warming. We are indeed living in complex times with greater geostrategic tensions.
But it’s a fair bet she did not deliver her speech in Moscow, because – if she did – there’s a fair chance she might not be allowed to come home. Vladimir Putin is apt to react harshly to criticism and Mahuta told her audience:
To see Russia’s cynical exploitation of its veto to stymie the UN Security Council is an affront to the rules-based order.
A significant chunk of the speech deals with “Our Commitment to Democracy and Openness”.
She said:
I mentioned briefly that the genesis of our statehood was founded in the Treaty of Waitangi and the Westminster system. We have come a long way in 183 years and our sense of democracy continues to mature. We are moving towards a NZ-centric, Pacific based model of democracy.
She did not explain what this model entails. Presumably it enables some privileged people to be guaranteed seats on local authorities, such as the Canterbury Regional Council, without having to win the electoral support of Canterbury voters and be accountable to them.
But she did say:
In the Indo-Pacific, our wider home region, threats to democracy, security and human rights are putting pressure on the systems that have delivered decades of stability and prosperity to the region.
Democratic norms and universal human rights are being trampled by the military regime in Myanmar. North Korea’s repeated missile launches in breach of UN Security Council Resolutions present a serious threat to regional stability. Developments in the South China Sea and increasing tension in the Taiwan Strait continue to be of concern. In a diverse Indo-Pacific, where we have differences we must have the maturity to discuss these openly and frankly. The Indo-Pacific architecture, with ASEAN at its centre, remains a critical platform for such discussions.
The speech was delivered yesterday, while the PM was announcing an extension of New Zealand’s defence commitments as well as humanitarian, legal and economic support for Ukraine as part of the ongoing international response to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.
Hipkins was visiting NZDF personnel training Ukrainian troops at the Salisbury Plain Army Training Area outside of London.
The names of Mahuta and Defence Minister Andrew Little are included in the press statement.
I want to set out – Aotearoa NZs Independent Foreign Policy and Why the Pacific Matters for Regional Security. Indeed much of the emphasis in foreign policy has been the impact of Russia’s unlawful aggression in Ukraine, tensions in the Indo-Pacific, North Korea’s provocations, internal conflict in Sudan alongside ongoing unrest across other parts of the world, increasing economic pressures and the real impacts of global warming. We are indeed living in complex times with greater geostrategic tensions.
But it’s a fair bet she did not deliver her speech in Moscow, because – if she did – there’s a fair chance she might not be allowed to come home. Vladimir Putin is apt to react harshly to criticism and Mahuta told her audience:
To see Russia’s cynical exploitation of its veto to stymie the UN Security Council is an affront to the rules-based order.
A significant chunk of the speech deals with “Our Commitment to Democracy and Openness”.
She said:
I mentioned briefly that the genesis of our statehood was founded in the Treaty of Waitangi and the Westminster system. We have come a long way in 183 years and our sense of democracy continues to mature. We are moving towards a NZ-centric, Pacific based model of democracy.
She did not explain what this model entails. Presumably it enables some privileged people to be guaranteed seats on local authorities, such as the Canterbury Regional Council, without having to win the electoral support of Canterbury voters and be accountable to them.
But she did say:
In the Indo-Pacific, our wider home region, threats to democracy, security and human rights are putting pressure on the systems that have delivered decades of stability and prosperity to the region.
Democratic norms and universal human rights are being trampled by the military regime in Myanmar. North Korea’s repeated missile launches in breach of UN Security Council Resolutions present a serious threat to regional stability. Developments in the South China Sea and increasing tension in the Taiwan Strait continue to be of concern. In a diverse Indo-Pacific, where we have differences we must have the maturity to discuss these openly and frankly. The Indo-Pacific architecture, with ASEAN at its centre, remains a critical platform for such discussions.
The speech was delivered yesterday, while the PM was announcing an extension of New Zealand’s defence commitments as well as humanitarian, legal and economic support for Ukraine as part of the ongoing international response to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.
Hipkins was visiting NZDF personnel training Ukrainian troops at the Salisbury Plain Army Training Area outside of London.
The names of Mahuta and Defence Minister Andrew Little are included in the press statement.
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New Zealand is significantly extending its defence commitments as well as humanitarian, legal and economic support for Ukraine as part of the ongoing international response to Russia’s illegal war of aggression.
Speech
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The 2023 Ministerial Youth Advisory Group (YAG) held its first hui of the year with a positive, constructive kÅrero on education issues that are important to rangatahi across Aotearoa.
The further support for Ukraine announced by Hipkins, Mahuta and Little are –
- Extend deployment for one year of 95 New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel training and supporting Ukrainian armed forces through to 30 June 2024
- Two additional NZDF personnel deployed to Poland to conduct space training programmes for members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine until 30 June 2024
- $2m to Ukraine Humanitarian Fund to support the provision of healthcare, food assistance, clean water, shelter and other assistance
- $1.5 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, providing humanitarian support to Ukrainian refugees
- $500,000 towards a New Zealand Disaster Response Partnership with New Zealand NGOs on the regional refugee response
- $1.3 million of funding to the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor and Trust Fund for Victims to ensure legal accountability and justice for victims in Ukraine
- Further sanctions targeting a total of 18 entities and 9 individuals supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“Since February last year New Zealand has taken significant and unprecedented actions to support Ukraine, including the deployment of NZDF troops into Europe and passing the Russia Sanctions Act that has enabled us to impose targeted sanctions for the first time outside of the UN framework.
“Over the past year New Zealand has contributed more than $78 million of financial and military support to Ukraine, as well as our support for Ukraine’s legal case against Russia, sanctions targeting more than 1500 Russian and Belarussian individuals and entities, and trade measures.”
The conflict appeared set to continue “for some time”, Hipkins said.
“We and likeminded partners will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine.”
Little said 440 NZDF personnel have been deployed to support Ukraine, with 279 directly involved in the artillery and infantry training delivered in the UK.
Infantry training teams deployed to the United Kingdom have trained more than 1000 members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine so far. Last year the NZDF artillery team trained almost 300 Ukrainians on the L119 Gun.
As well as infantry training, the NZDF has been invited by the United States to support training of Ukrainian personnel in western-led space operations and increase their interoperability with likeminded partners. This work may include the training of Polish Armed Forces personnel.
NZDF personnel deployed to Europe will not enter Ukraine.
The NZDF will conclude its contribution of New Zealand-based open-source intelligence capability, which commenced in March 2022 to support the UK and other European partners’ intelligence requirements. More than 12 months on from the start of the invasion, this intelligence area no longer requires New Zealand support.
Nanaia Mahuta said New Zealand was putting in place further sanctions targeting a total of 18 entities and 9 individuals that are supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.
These sanctions cover senior leaders of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s internal security and intelligence service, the FSB itself, as well as other Russian individuals and entities who develop and procure weapons, technology and communication systems, and provide services such as transport and insurance – all vital to Russia’s ability to wage war.
Iranian individuals and entities are also being sanctioned for providing direct military support to Russia for its illegal war in Ukraine.
Mahuta insisted:
“These sanctions are working. Our comprehensive trade sanctions have effectively decoupled the New Zealand and Russian economies. Since our trade sanctions were put in place total imports have fallen by almost ninety nine percent.
“We continue to condemn Russia’s egregious and illegal actions. We repeat our call for President Putin to cease Russia’s war against Ukraine, withdraw troops and then enter diplomatic negotiations to resolve this war.”
More information about diplomatic, military, legal and economic support to Ukraine, as well as sanctions, travel bans and export controls against Russia, can be found on the MFAT site here.
The plain English in the Government’s press statement should leave Putin in no doubt about New Zealand’s position.
He – and other world leaders – might be a bit more challenged if they read Mahuta’s speech about New Zealand’s “country agnostic approach” to its foreign affairs.
She said:
The enduring elements of NZs independence include four key pou;
Four key pou?
We are not sure what Mahuta intended, but we did find these meanings of that word –
pou
- (verb)(-a) to erect, establish, fix, elevate on poles.
- (verb)(-a) to plunge in, stick in (a paddle, knife, stake, etc.).
- (verb)(-a) to plant.
- (verb)(-a) to appoint, anoint.
- (noun)post, upright, support, pole, pillar, goalpost, sustenance.
- (noun)support, supporter, stalwart, mentor, symbol of support, metaphoric post – someone, a group, tribe, gathering or something that strongly supports a cause or is a territorial symbol, such as a mountain or landmark, representing that support.
- (noun)column.
- (noun)teacher, expert.
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