Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Pacific Island Affairs

08 March 2007
Speech Notes

New Zealand in the Pacific
Speech to the Young Pacific Leaders Conference, Aotea Centre, Auckland

Taloha ni, Talofa lava, Malo e lelei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Ni sa bula vinaka, Namaste, Kia orana koutou katoatoa, la Orana, Gud de tru olgeta, Kia ora tatau and warm Pacific greetings.

I have been asked to talk today about New Zealand in the Pacific. Tomorrow my colleague Luamanuvao Winnie Laban will speak to you about Pasifika in Aoteoroa.

New Zealand is a Pacific nation – and not just geographically. Our population, culture and national identity are increasingly enriched and influenced by Pasifika.

Overall, the percentage of the New Zealand population that identify themselves as being of Pacific ethnicity grew by 14.7% between 1996 and 2006 to 265,974.

As the number of people of Pacific ethnicity in New Zealand has grown, so too has the impact of Pasifika on New Zealand. When you watch our television, listen to our music, cheer for our sports teams or go to our markets, New Zealand’s Pacific character is obvious.

You need only to watch an All Black or Kiwis game, or more recently the Black Caps and Ross Taylor, to see the important role Pasifika people play in our nation’s sporting success.

Bands and musicians like Nesian Mystic, Spacifix, Scribe and Che Fu and many others, are enjoying huge popular success at home and abroad, and giving voice to many young people of Pacific origin here in Aotearoa.

Talented young Pacific leaders such as Jonathan Lemalu, Karlo Mila Schaff, Oscar Keightly and Toa Fraser, the director of No. 2 –, which was set and filmed in my electorate of Mt Roskill – continue to emerge in other areas of the Arts and Culture.

Together with the strong influence of the tangata whenua in New Zealand, migration from the Pacific has shaped and changed our identity as a Pacific nation.

And the presence of a strong Pasifika community has enabled a unique interaction between New Zealand and the Pacific, which gives us a sense of identity with and a greater ability to work alongside our Pacific neighbours.

Many people now travel between New Zealand and the Pacific on a regular basis. Not just to holiday, but to visit extended families, to work, to attain education, and to explore business and other opportunities.

With the Pacific Access Scheme in addition to the traditional Samoan quota, and new seasonal work programmes, we will see more Pasifika people living and working in New Zealand. Trade, already at $1 billion a year in exports, will continue to grow. Development assistance, already heavily focused on the Pacific, will grow further in size.

A Year of Instability

It is because of these close relationships that events in the Pacific are of critical importance to New Zealand.

Unfortunately, the last year has seen unprecedented regional turbulence. Riots in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Timor Leste and a coup in Fiji have all brought the challenges facing our region into sharp context.

The events over the last year are symptomatic of the significant and complex challenges that the Pacific faces.

Rapid population growth and urbanization in Melanesia and Polynesia are stretching governments’ abilities to cope. We see in countries like Vanuatu and Fiji the growth in squatter settlements and the emergence of serious social problems. At the same time, some Pacific Island countries like Niue and parts of the Cook Islands are undergoing outward migration that threatens the viability of their communities and cultures.

Demographic and social changes are placing increasing pressure on traditional cultural and value structures.

Pacific countries are experiencing increased political debate and pressures for reform. Many younger Pacific people returning home see traditional value structures as inconsistent with their expectations of modern democracy.

Corruption and a perception that governing elites are focused on consolidating power at the expense of the population at large are problems.

Poor economic growth, a lack of employment opportunities and weak governance structures exacerbate these problems, as do ethnic differences within Melanesian countries. Conflict between tribal, ethnic and regional groups has contributed to crises in Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Timor Leste and Fiji.

New Zealand’s Engagement with the Pacific

The question arises about the role that New Zealand can, or should, play in promoting a safe, stable and prosperous Pacific region in which people’s democratic and human rights are respected.

The existence of stable, competent, democratic governments and reducing poverty in the Pacific are in the interests of people in the region but are also in our interests.

Our strong Pacific population, deep linkages and long history with the region, places us in a good position to engage with Pacific governments.

We talk actively and often to our neighbours. Where we have to ask hard questions, or deliver difficult messages, we first seek to find co-operative solutions that are Pacific-led and implemented with New Zealand providing support as appropriate.

We acknowledge that our neighbours are sovereign and independent countries, which must make their own decisions and have ownership over solutions to their problems. However, we also seek to uphold internationally accepted standards in areas like human rights, democracy and good governance.

This approach will at times bring us into disagreement or conflict with groups who exercise power within their countries.

In Fiji, we have consistently opposed those who have used force to overthrow democratically elected and constitutional governments.

It was not necessary to have agreed with everything the Qarase government did to oppose the use of military force to overthrow it and to oppose the deaths in custody, the intimidation of dissidents and the interference with the independence of the judiciary and the media, which have followed it.

In the Solomon Islands, while respecting the sovereignty of its government we have over time spoken out against behaviour that fundamentally breached basic standards of good governance.

I spoke out against the practice of excise duties under a former government being subverted for personal rather than public benefit while New Zealand taxpayers funded basic social services like education.

More recently, we strongly opposed the appointment as Minister of Police of a man charged with and in jail for inciting the burning of Chinese businesses.

In Tonga, while respecting its government as constitutional we have consistently encouraged the country’s adoption of democratic process and institutions.

The Importance of Regionalism

New Zealand also promotes finding regional solutions to problems and challenges that transcend national boundaries. Regional solidarity and co-coordinated regional responses to challenges to democracy, security and economic development within the Pacific are important.

Discussion around RAMSI at the Nadi Forum Leaders’ meeting last year and the recent Eminent Persons’ Group report on the coup in Fiji, underline the value of regional approaches.

The Pacific Plan, which was agreed by Forum Leaders in 2005, represents a strong effort to promote regional co-operation and integration.

This year, the Pacific Plan will focus on specific priority areas identified by Forum Leaders, including energy, ICT and transport issues.

Encouraging progress has also been made by governments as they integrate regional activities into national development plans.

New Zealand Military Assistance

The challenge arises as to when regional intervention in what is happening within countries is appropriate and when it might represent unjustified interference and be counterproductive.

On several occasions recently, New Zealand has been called on by regional partner governments to provide military and/or police assistance in situation of civil disorder or conflict.

Decisions by New Zealand to provide military assistance are never taken lightly.

Such assistance has been provided at the invitation of host governments with regional or multilateral agreement and where New Zealand involvement in a regional or multilateral assistance force has been deemed vital to help restore order or secure the safety of the civilian population.

Obviously, we do not want unnecessarily to put the lives of New Zealanders at risk and undertake financial burdens other than when not taking such action would have unacceptable consequences.

In Bougainville, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Tonga our servicemen and women have played an important role in assisting those countries in situations of civil war, state failure and breakdown of law and order.

In each of the above cases, I believe New Zealand can be proud of what we did - saving lives, stopping destruction and preventing chaos and human suffering.

But there are also dangers that in being potentially required to use lethal force, we may unwillingly become involved in factional conflict and be seen by some as part of the problem rather than providing a solution. That means that we have to work hard to ensure our interventions are appropriate and successful.

New Zealand Development Assistance

The Pacific is a core focal point of our development assistance policy. In 2006/07 New Zealand, via NZAID, has committed $NZ166.6 million to address key Pacific development challenges. The total increase in aid to the Pacific in 2006 alone was $34 million.

And we are constantly looking to improve the way we provide assistance to the Pacific. We are increasingly focusing on how we work as a critical factor in what we do. There are a number of factors that can improve the effectiveness of aid:

- Firstly, a greater emphasis on policy engagement with our partners to ensure that when we channel resources into sectors, the policies underpinning success are in place.

- Secondly, where appropriate, rather than stand-alone projects, we are moving more towards integrated and/or sector-wide approaches.

- Thirdly, we are placing a stronger focus on mutual accountability – aid is not a one-way process – we will work where we are welcome and real commitment is demonstrated to integrate or complement local and donor resources.

- And, finally, we have adopted a stronger commitment to donor harmonization. Working more collaboratively with key development partners will deliver results and improve effectiveness. In the Pacific this is very important, as the costs imposed on small Pacific partner countries by donor nations can be high.

Supporting strong governance is one of the biggest areas of focus in the Pacific. The history of decolonization in the Pacific and elsewhere has been that too little was done to build local skills and capacity to ensure the success of countries when they achieved independence. Around 90% of our dedicated good governance budget goes directly into the Pacific to support programmes in a range of areas: justice, courts, police, helping build strong national and local public institutions.

We also work closely with and help strengthen civil society in Pacific countries. In doing so we should look to see what role our local Pasifika populations can play using the resources of skill, culture and language that they can offer.

We work on a whole of government basis, with upward of sixteen individual New Zealand agencies engaged in institution building, mentoring and technical assistance to their Pacific Island counterparts.

Conclusion

New Zealand’s engagement with the Pacific is comprehensive through state-building and security activities, through broad-ranging people-to-people linkages, through practical development assistance and direct services to the small states of the Cook Islands, Niue and the Tokelaus who share New Zealand citizenship.

The recent difficulties in some Pacific countries add to the challenge that New Zealand faces in deepening and broadening our engagement with the region. This engagement has, and will, continue to place relationships with Pacific Governments, civil society and our own Pasifika communities at their centre.

Pacific leaders such as you can help ensure that these relationships are sustained and intensified.

Your own relationships, linkages and cultural understanding are an important resource strengthening our ability to engage more effectively with the region.

Thank you for the chance to be here and share this occasion with you today.

ENDS

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