O’Connor draws attention to CPTPP ministerial meeting in Auckland while the PM flies out for EU FTA signing
Foreign affairs and trade were the focus of the only fresh posts on the government’s official website, since Point of Order’s previous monitoring of what our ministers are up to and how they are spending our money.
Trade and Export Growth Minister Damien O’Connor announced that in Auckland next weekend New Zealand will host the 7th Commission Meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
CPTPP embraces 11 economies – Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Viet Nam – which represent $17.3 trillion of global trade.
O’Connor will chair the meeting.
New Zealand will also welcome United Kingdom Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch to take part in a signing ceremony to mark the United Kingdom’s formal accession to CPTPP.
More information about New Zealand’s Chair and Host year and the CPTPP Agreement can be found here.
The other fresh post on the Beehive site is a copy of the Prime Minister’s first major foreign policy speech, in which he emphasised his leadership will not mean a major shift in New Zealand’s approach to the world.
He was addressing an audience hosted at Parliament by the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.
Later in the day, he flew to Brussels to sign the EU Free Trade Agreement, which will unlocks immediate tariff savings of around $100 million a year when it enters into force, more than any past New Zealand FTA including China.
He then will travel to Stockholm and the NATO Summit in Lithuania which New Zealand has been invited to participate in for the second year in a row.
In his speech, Hipkins said:
Although only in the role a short time, I’ve been focussed on playing my part to strengthen and enhance the range of our existing relationships New Zealand holds and to advance our trade opportunities.
I firmly believe that in an increasingly volatile world, shoring-up and strengthening our closest relationships is key to our economic prosperity, enhancing our national security, and promoting domestic harmony.
So, if you came today to hear me set out a radical departure in our foreign policy, I’m sorry to let you down.
If anything, my approach in the international sphere is not that dissimilar to my priorities at home – getting back to basics and dealing with the bread and butter issues in front of us.
In foreign policy terms, this meant ensuring New Zealand had greater economic resilience across its trade markets in a time of global uncertainty.
Hipkins also said he increasingly was recognising “the enormous benefits of our independent foreign policy, our role as an honest broker, and the importance of our close relationships in enhancing our prosperity and security”.
“Independent” did not mean “neutral”, he insisted.
The speech includes a review of NZ’s relationships with Australia, the USA, UK and Europe, the Pacific and China.
On defence and security, Hipkins said NZ can’t be passive, and must keep investing in its defence and security capabilities at home.
The Government will be releasing an interrelated set of strategic policy documents and assessments, spanning across New Zealand’s national security, defence, and foreign policy – including New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy.
These documents will outline where the Government will be focusing its efforts. Including:
O’Connor will chair the meeting.
New Zealand will also welcome United Kingdom Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch to take part in a signing ceremony to mark the United Kingdom’s formal accession to CPTPP.
More information about New Zealand’s Chair and Host year and the CPTPP Agreement can be found here.
The other fresh post on the Beehive site is a copy of the Prime Minister’s first major foreign policy speech, in which he emphasised his leadership will not mean a major shift in New Zealand’s approach to the world.
He was addressing an audience hosted at Parliament by the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.
Later in the day, he flew to Brussels to sign the EU Free Trade Agreement, which will unlocks immediate tariff savings of around $100 million a year when it enters into force, more than any past New Zealand FTA including China.
He then will travel to Stockholm and the NATO Summit in Lithuania which New Zealand has been invited to participate in for the second year in a row.
In his speech, Hipkins said:
Although only in the role a short time, I’ve been focussed on playing my part to strengthen and enhance the range of our existing relationships New Zealand holds and to advance our trade opportunities.
I firmly believe that in an increasingly volatile world, shoring-up and strengthening our closest relationships is key to our economic prosperity, enhancing our national security, and promoting domestic harmony.
So, if you came today to hear me set out a radical departure in our foreign policy, I’m sorry to let you down.
If anything, my approach in the international sphere is not that dissimilar to my priorities at home – getting back to basics and dealing with the bread and butter issues in front of us.
In foreign policy terms, this meant ensuring New Zealand had greater economic resilience across its trade markets in a time of global uncertainty.
Hipkins also said he increasingly was recognising “the enormous benefits of our independent foreign policy, our role as an honest broker, and the importance of our close relationships in enhancing our prosperity and security”.
“Independent” did not mean “neutral”, he insisted.
The speech includes a review of NZ’s relationships with Australia, the USA, UK and Europe, the Pacific and China.
On defence and security, Hipkins said NZ can’t be passive, and must keep investing in its defence and security capabilities at home.
The Government will be releasing an interrelated set of strategic policy documents and assessments, spanning across New Zealand’s national security, defence, and foreign policy – including New Zealand’s first National Security Strategy.
These documents will outline where the Government will be focusing its efforts. Including:
- Investing in a combat-capable defence force and the wider national security system;
- Tackling emerging issues like disinformation, and undertaking more concerted efforts in areas where threats are growing, like economic security;
- Building and sustaining a public conversation on national security, by being more upfront about what we are observing as well as listening to New Zealanders, in order to grow and maintain social license for efforts to protect our security;
- Supporting Pacific resilience, providing development assistance, and continuing work to bolster the security capacity of Pacific nations;
- Strengthening security cooperation and ties in the broader Indo-Pacific region; and
- Working to maintain and strengthen the global system of rules and norms that have served New Zealand well.
Latest from the Beehive
Next weekend, Auckland will play host to international Trade Ministers as New Zealand hosts the 7th Commission Meeting of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Part
Today I want the opportunity to talk about New Zealand’s approach to a more unpredictable and complex world and set out how our Government is acting to protect and advance the safety and security of New Zealand and New Zealanders.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
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