Today’s Friday – which means Winston must be in Auckland, sorting out the world’s problems with the Aussies
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has been earning his keep. Yesterday he announced he had completed his visit to New Caledonia, New Zealand’s closest neighbour. Today he has been engaged in talks with Australian big-wigs.
His trip to Nouméa took place this week following the postponement of a planned visit in May due to civil unrest.
During the visit Peters and President Mapou signed an updated Joint Cooperation Plan, which sets out priority areas for the two governments to work together – such as institutional and government cooperation, trade and economic collaboration, and people-to-people connections.
New Zealand’s support package under the Plan will increase our funding to New Caledonia’s voluntary and non-government (to around $280,000 per year); expand our tertiary scholarship programme to New Caledonians; and enhance technical cooperation in areas that will support New Caledonia’s economic recovery.
The full text of the Joint Cooperation Plan is available on MFAT’s website here.
Peters can’t have had much time to unpack his bags after his return, because today we learn that – along with Defence Minister Judith Collins – he has been engaged in ministerial consultations with their Australian counterparts in Auckland.
They hosted Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong for the second Australia – New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations (ANZMIN). Ministers also met separately for a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and a Defence Ministers’ Meeting
The outcome is recorded in the …
JOINT STATEMENT ON AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FOREIGN AND DEFENCE MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS (ANZMIN) DECEMBER 2024
The Defence Ministers signed the updated Australia-New Zealand Joint Statement on Closer Defence Relations (CDR), setting out “contemporary objectives for our bilateral defence relationship”
The CDR reaffirms Ministers’ commitment to modernising the Australia-New Zealand alliance, strengthening defence cooperation and to an increasingly integrated ‘Anzac’ force.
The joint statement includes an expression of serious concern over developments in the South China Sea and the intensification of destabilising activities.
New Zealand’s support package under the Plan will increase our funding to New Caledonia’s voluntary and non-government (to around $280,000 per year); expand our tertiary scholarship programme to New Caledonians; and enhance technical cooperation in areas that will support New Caledonia’s economic recovery.
The full text of the Joint Cooperation Plan is available on MFAT’s website here.
Peters can’t have had much time to unpack his bags after his return, because today we learn that – along with Defence Minister Judith Collins – he has been engaged in ministerial consultations with their Australian counterparts in Auckland.
They hosted Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles and Minister for Foreign Affairs Senator Penny Wong for the second Australia – New Zealand Foreign and Defence Ministerial Consultations (ANZMIN). Ministers also met separately for a Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and a Defence Ministers’ Meeting
The outcome is recorded in the …
JOINT STATEMENT ON AUSTRALIA-NEW ZEALAND FOREIGN AND DEFENCE MINISTERIAL CONSULTATIONS (ANZMIN) DECEMBER 2024
The Defence Ministers signed the updated Australia-New Zealand Joint Statement on Closer Defence Relations (CDR), setting out “contemporary objectives for our bilateral defence relationship”
The CDR reaffirms Ministers’ commitment to modernising the Australia-New Zealand alliance, strengthening defence cooperation and to an increasingly integrated ‘Anzac’ force.
The joint statement includes an expression of serious concern over developments in the South China Sea and the intensification of destabilising activities.
This included the militarisation of disputed features, interference with the exercise of rights and freedoms afforded states under UNCLOS, and instances of unsafe and unprofessional behaviour by China’s military, coast guard vessels and maritime militia, including towards the Philippines. Ministers also expressed serious concerns about the situation in the East China Sea.
And:
Ministers reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. They called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion. They also reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade, and cultural fields as well as enhancing development coordination in the Pacific.
The statements which tell us what Peters and Collins have been doing to deal with trans-Tasman and global issues can be found among the latest ministerial announcements on the government’s official website –
And:
Ministers reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and their shared opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo. They called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues through dialogue without the threat or use of force or coercion. They also reiterated their will to continue deepening relations with Taiwan in the economic, trade, and cultural fields as well as enhancing development coordination in the Pacific.
The statements which tell us what Peters and Collins have been doing to deal with trans-Tasman and global issues can be found among the latest ministerial announcements on the government’s official website –
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Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Rt Hon Winston Peters MP and Minister of Defence Hon Judith Collins KC MP hosted Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defenc
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Foreign Minister Winston Peters has completed his visit to New Caledonia, New Zealand’s closest neighbour.
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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