4. Dr KENNEDY GRAHAM (Green) Link to this
to the Minister of Foreign Affairs
Does he share the vision of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, who, on 5 April, stated his commitment to “seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”; and does he also share the President’s commitment to take concrete steps towards that goal?
Hon JOHN KEY (Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs) Link to this
Yes. New Zealand warmly welcomed President Obama’s recent leadership on the elimination of nuclear weapons. Renewed engagement by the US in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation is very welcome to New Zealand.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
Does he agree, then, with the statement of the New Zealand Prime Minister of 1985 that the United States carries the burden of “knowing that the deterrent which defends them will also destroy them and all the rest of us if it is ever used. No nation should carry that burden.”?
Yes. Broadly, we do agree that the United States can, because of its position in the world, show leadership in this area. That is why we welcome the statements made by President Obama. We believe that they are a step in the right direction, but we do not underestimate the size of the challenge that lies before the United States. We just hope that the United States is successful.
Jo GoodhewAt the conclusion of today’s meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, an agreement was signed for New Zealand’s fourth contribution to the G8 Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. This is a practical way for New Zealand to assist international efforts to prevent the smuggling of nuclear material, and therefore reduce the potential for nuclear weapons to end up in the wrong hands.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
In light of his response to my earlier question, and also of New Zealand’s vote in support of the December 2008 UN resolution for a nuclear weapons convention, will he confirm that our Government will urge the United States to commence negotiations on a phased programme for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons within a specified time frame?
Firstly, I think it is fair to say that New Zealand has supported resolutions of the United Nations seeking negotiations on such a convention, but we have done that against the background that such negotiations are unlikely to get off the ground in the foreseeable future. New Zealand’s emphasis has been and remains on the practical steps that President Obama outlined in his speech in Prague. Yes, we will be encouraging that. As I said, it is a very positive step, and, really, it is one, almost, that only America can take.
Hon Phil GoffHas his Government warmly welcomed the vision of President Barack Obama in moving forward measures to effectively deal with climate change; if so, if it was not President Obama that the Prime Minister was referring to, why did he say: “The leaders I have talked to, I can assure the member, are so focused on the recession that they are not particularly focused on climate change at the moment.”? Which leaders was the Prime Minister referring to?
It is a fairly long way from nuclear proliferation to climate change, but, that said, no, President Obama was not one of the world leaders I was talking about there. I have not spoken to him. I do share—
Hon Gerry BrownleeThat is right. I do not know who was happier: Joe Biden seeing Phil Goff, or Phil Goff seeing Joe Biden. The fundamental point here is that we support the view that the world needs to take climate change seriously. New Zealand has its own prescription for that, and we will be following it.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
Does he agree—bringing the matter of nuclear weapons closer to home—with the statement of the New Zealand Prime Minister in 1986: “New Zealand is a nuclear-free country. We reject any strategy for our defence which relies on nuclear weapons.”?
Is it not true that the Prime Minister was just making it up when he said that other world leaders were not focused on climate change because they were focused on the recession; if not, why can he not name just one leader who said that to him?
I do not have to go out there and ankle-tap world leaders, then email the photo to the Dominion Post in order to get a profile. I have my own profile.
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. [ Interruption] There is a Standing Order that you continue to fail to enforce, because members keep interjecting when I raise a point of order. I ask you to bring the House to order, please.
Mr SPEAKERMr Speaker, as you are aware, the question was very straightforward. It asked whether there was a world leader that he had spoken to. Either there was one or there was not, but nothing in his answer pertained to that question.
If the question had been straightforward and serious—and I am not sure whether the barracking from the member’s colleagues indicated the seriousness of the question—I believe that the response the member got was absolutely in response to the interjections from his colleagues. Ministers are perfectly entitled to respond to interjections when answering questions.
I am not going to relay conversations I had with other leaders, simply because I think that is inappropriate. But I can say that with quite a number of leaders I have met recently, what has come up first and has dominated nearly every conversation we have had has been the recession. If the Leader of the Opposition does not think leaders around the world are almost solely focused on the recession at the moment, as opposed to anything else, then he is showing why he is so out of touch with what is happening in the world.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
In light of his response to my third question, which rejected the use of nuclear deterrence in the defence of New Zealand, and in light of the judgment of the World Court that the use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to international law, can the Prime Minister confirm that New Zealand supports the UN General Assembly Resolution 63/75 calling for negotiations to commence for an international convention prohibiting the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances?
As I said in response to an earlier question from the member, yes, New Zealand has supported those resolutions at the United Nations, but it is important, as I said, to put them against the backdrop of what is happening out there. We think that the fastest way to achieve those kinds of results is not necessarily through a UN resolution; it is through the leadership that America is demonstrating in Prague this week.
Dr Kennedy Graham: The first is General Assembly Resolution 63/75 of 2 December 2008, which sets out the resolution calling for a convention on the non-use of nuclear weapons, and which New Zealand voted against.
Dr Kennedy Graham: The second is General Assembly Resolution 63/49, which calls for a nuclear weapons convention, and which New Zealand voted for.
Dr Kennedy Graham Link to this
The third document is United Nations General Assembly document A/62/650 of 18 January 2008, which sets out the Model Nuclear Weapons Convention.