11. METIRIA TUREI (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
What is the Government’s position on the draft United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS (Minister of Foreign Affairs) Link to this
The New Zealand Government cannot support the declaration.
Why is the Government maintaining its opposition, particularly in response to article 3, the right to self-determination, as that right is a repeat of the same article in other human rights documents, and does not threaten New Zealand’s State integrity, because the New Zealand situation in regard to its indigenous people does not fit the UN criteria for a lawful secession; if so, given this fact, how could he possibly justify not supporting that declaration, when from New Zealand’s perspective there are very few issues for it to consider?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
I am not certain whether that was a question or a lame attempt at a legal opinion, but let me just say that New Zealand’s longstanding position in negotiations on the declaration was that it had to satisfy several fundamental requirements. It had, amongst other things, to be consistent with international and New Zealand law and policy; protect the rights of all citizens; and safeguard territorial integrity and political unity, as well as the responsibility of democratically elected Governments to govern for the welfare of all their citizens. The declaration fails to meet these three imperatives.
Hone HarawiraTēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Tēnā tātou te Whare. Does the Minister agree with the statement of the United Nations Secretary-General: “For far too long, indigenous peoples’ lands have been taken away, their cultures denigrated or directly attacked, their languages and customs suppressed, their wisdom and traditional knowledge overlooked or exploited, and their sustainable ways of developing natural resources dismissed. Some have even faced the threat of extinction.”?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
If one looks around the world, one can be less than satisfied—in fact, greatly dissatisfied—with developments over centuries, and, in some countries, even up until recent times. But New Zealand is not one of those countries. New Zealand is a country that, for example, in political terms has seen dramatic elevation of Māori representation in this Parliament. I am glad to have been part of that. In so many other areas New Zealand has made giant steps. I want to say, just in case people are arguing this point, that Māori were widely consulted from May 1997, under the then New Zealand First - National Government— Interruption]—quite rightly so; we started the process. There have been numerous—[] Well, I do not know where the Chinese were, but if the member wants to throw up over them, that is fine.
I raise a point of order, Madam Speaker. The question was whether the Minister agrees with the United Nations Secretary-General’s statement. It was not about the policy of New Zealand First in 1997.
Madam SPEAKERThe Minister was actually addressing that question until he went on a bit. Is the Minister finished?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
I want to say, as to the question, that of course I agree. No rational, sane person with an understanding of history—
Rodney HideRt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
—would not agree with substantial parts of the Secretary-General’s comments. When I said rational and sane, that ruled out Rodney Hide, of course.
Why is the Government maintaining this negative and destructive stance on the draft declaration when, in fact, the States and the indigenous peoples who have been negotiating the agreement have come extremely close to consensus on almost all of the articles, bar just two or three, and support the draft, which is to go to the UN General Assembly later this year, and when it would be extremely embarrassing for New Zealand to be added to the hold-out countries, given the impacts and the difficulty that so many indigenous peoples face across the globe, and knowing that this declaration could be the only protection available to them—yet New Zealand denies it to them?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
What the House has just been told by way of a question is not in any way exact, precise, or true. In fact, many of the 47 countries, in respect of the United Nations Human Rights Council vote, registered their disquiet nevertheless about aspects of the text. That is the reality. Precisely, New Zealand does not believe that this matter really addresses, in the way it should, the needs, issues, and interests of indigenous people around the world. That is why we have not gone along with it.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
In light of the last answer, can the Minister confirm he has received advice that a number of the countries supporting the text have actually privately said they propose to ignore it, and that the New Zealand Government does not believe that is a principled position to take?
Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS Link to this
Again, that is a fact. What we have are some countries that are just growing tired of the issue and allowing it to go ahead, even though they have expressed, now and then, their grave disquiet about its text. New Zealand has taken this issue very seriously; we do not bow down to criticism that we in this country have not stood up for the rights of indigenous people.