Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Embargoed until 10am, 19 July 2007
Speech Notes

The role of Foreign Minister
Speech to the New Zealand Diplomacy course
Auckland University Lecture Hall

Thank you for the invitation to deliver the opening lecture in this year’s “New Zealand Diplomacy” course, which continues the tradition of the Foreign Minister, and senior Foreign Affairs staff, offering insights into the practical aspects of diplomacy.

The purpose of today's lecture is to consider the role of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

To begin, let us examine the constitutional role of the Minister, which has two dimensions.

The first relates to domestic constitutional considerations, and the second to the role of Foreign Minister in international law.

The current arrangement, which sees the portfolio of Foreign Minister sitting outside Cabinet, generated some interest among our easily excitable media and within some sections of the academic community.

Now to be fair, this was a new and novel approach to filling the role, but the inherent flexibility within our constitution ensured that it was both perfectly legal and legitimate.

Indeed, David Lange had served as Attorney General outside Cabinet towards the end of the Fourth Labour government, and there are several examples internationally of Foreign Ministers who were not from the major governing party.

Despite the mischief making of some commentators, the current arrangement has never been an impediment in fulfilling the role, nor has it prevented New Zealand's interests being fully represented overseas.

There are several fundamental reasons why this is so.

Promoting New Zealand's interests has to be the central philosophy of a Foreign Minister, irrespective of his or her particular political views.

This naturally leads to a strong convergence between most parties on Foreign Affairs policy. The differences are more nuances than major policy rifts.

And unlike some New Zealand commentators, some of whom have no imagination, or have obsessively sought to re-litigate the outcome of the last election, Foreign Ministers around the world just want to get down to business when they meet with their New Zealand counterpart.

The other aspect of the constitutional dimension of the role of Foreign Minister is that it holds a special status in international law.

According to Article 7 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, only Heads of States, Heads of Government, and Ministers for Foreign Affairs are considered to represent their States in matters such as the conclusion of treaties.

New Zealand’s treaty practice is therefore built on the Minister of Foreign Affairs undertaking certain functions.

These are mostly related to the signing of documents and treaties; decisions by the Executive to enter into treaties; engagement in the Parliamentary treaty examination process, and the implementation of legislation required to give effect to international treaties of national significance.

Some examples are the Antarctica Act 1960; Consular Privileges and Immunities Act 1971; Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act 1968; Geneva Conventions Act 1958; New Zealand Nuclear Free Zone, Disarmament and Arms Control Act 1987, and various United Nations Sanctions Regulations.

There is a myth that the Foreign Minister appoints diplomats and decides who gets the sought-after overseas postings.

This is not so. It is the Governor General who formally appoints Heads of Mission, and the Secretary of Foreign Affairs who assigns officers to service overseas.

A critical part of the Foreign Minister's role lies in being accountable to Parliament for the proper and effective use of money in Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Vote Overseas Development Assistance.

In the current financial year, those appropriations are $339 million and $429 million respectively – a sizable amount of money.

Day-to-day administration is handled by the Ministry and by NZAID, but it is the Minister who is accountable to Parliament for the Ministry's performance, and for maintaining or improving its capability.

Let's now put some perspective on how these millions of dollars are spent.

Some of it – nearly $17 million – is used for specific services provided by the NZ Antarctic Institute, the Asia NZ Foundation, and the Pacific Cooperation Foundation.

The vast majority, however, is used by the Ministry to achieve the government’s foreign policy objectives.

In simple formal terms these are found in the Ministry’s 'Statement of Intent'.

The Ministry’s objective is to ensure that: “New Zealand’s security and prosperity interests are advanced and protected; and our voice is heard abroad”.

The reality is that the role is a careful mix of forward planing and strategic progress, while dealing with crises as they arise, and other unplanned for events as they unfold.

In order to achieve the formal aspects of the role of Foreign Minister, five intermediate outcomes have been identified:

- Safeguarding New Zealand’s security interests;

- Advancing sustainable economic growth through international connections that increase trade, and bring investment, skills, technology, and research to New Zealand;

- Promoting trans-boundary solutions and effective international rules;

- Eliminating poverty through development partnerships, and;

- Protecting the rights of New Zealanders abroad.

New Zealand is a small, independent country with limited resources, so it is difficult for us on our own to advance these goals, or indeed to shape international developments.

We must rely on international cooperation to pursue our objectives, and diplomacy is the main vehicle for achieving that goal.

That means working hard at developing close relationships with governments and international organisations in order to accrue the influence needed to accommodate our interests in their decision-making.

Part of that task falls to our network of 50 overseas posts, but it also requires the direct involvement of the Foreign Minister.

The portfolio is different from most others, perhaps with the exception of the Trade Negotiations portfolio and the Prime Minister, in that so much of this work can only be achieved offshore.

Each year, many days are spent travelling in pursuit of New Zealand’s bilateral and multilateral interests.

There is a romanticised notion that the life of a Foreign Minister is one of endless travel and cocktail functions.

That is a false picture.

There is a great deal of travel; but it is travel that involves tiring schedules, important meetings, and the need to build strong and influential bonds with counterparts.

It is, in reality, the only way for New Zealand to promote many of its most pressing foreign policy objectives.

These objectives are sought within the context of a constantly changing world, which, despite the absence of major conflicts, is becoming more unpredictable.

Fundamental shifts in relationships and alignments underpin escalating sectarian, ethnic, and internal conflicts that threaten the stability of many regions, including our own.

There are growing concerns about trans-boundary threats, with climate change currently taking centre stage.

At the same time, the pace of globalisation continues to accelerate. The integration of worldwide markets for labour, goods, services, capital, and technology is quickening.

All these factors impact on our foreign policy objectives, require policy responses, and often direct action by the Foreign Minister.

One such challenge at present is keeping abreast of the momentum for regional political cooperation and economic integration, especially in the Asia Pacific.

Such trends place pressure on countries like New Zealand to be more globally active, and to be better equipped to respond to a rapidly changing international environment.

The responsibilities of being Foreign Minister also have to compete with general parliamentary duties. It also involves an endless paper war – submissions, cables, correspondence, Cabinet papers, intelligence briefs, and briefing for overseas trips.

There are, however, some areas of specific focus for the year ahead, including developing key partnerships in the Asia-Pacific region, and enhancing political and economic stability in our immediate Pacific neighbourhood.

Fiji is the challenge of the moment. New Zealand has made no secret of our concerns about the motives and ambitions of the interim government. Shaping a path back to democracy must be the priority of all Fijians.

But political instability, weak institutions, and human capacity concerns are not unique to Fiji or the Pacific, and such matters occupy a significant portion of the time and attention.

One of the more pleasing aspects of being Foreign Minister relates to New Zealand’s Agency for International Development, or NZAID, which recently celebrated its fifth birthday.

A deliberate choice has been made to significantly bolster New Zealand's aid budget, and to ensure the primary focus is on development work in the Pacific. It is, after all, our neighbourhood.

To that end, over 50 per cent of New Zealand’s aid is now directed to the Pacific, and is targeted at countries with the greatest levels of poverty – Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

We also have significant development partnerships with Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, Niue, Tokelau, and Fiji, although the latter is currently in reduced form and excludes direct engagement with government agencies as a result of the December coup.

It would be wrong to look at these relationships solely in terms of aid – they are far deeper and broader than that.

The Pacific is also a region in which we foster key relationships with critical bilateral partnerships, such as Australia, the United States, Japan, China, ASEAN, and the European Union.

In fact it is important to understand that we regularly meet with our counterparts in Australia – formally twice a year and frequently in the margins of regional and multilateral forums – because of the importance of this relationship.

It is well documented that improving the relationship with the US has been a high priority over the last two years.

It has been pleasing to see what has colloquially labelled as a 'thawing' in our relationship, but which in reality is a conscience decision by both sides to acknowledge our differences and work constructively on the many fronts where we have shared interests.

There is also a specific multilateral dimension to the work of a Foreign Minister.

On this front, the current year will see greater focus on sustainability, and environmental and resource diplomacy such as climate change and fishing.

This will require effective multilateral diplomacy alongside, and in step with, our bilateral and regional efforts.

The opportunity each year to address the UN General Assembly offers an opportunity to formally place on record New Zealand’s strong commitment to multilateral diplomacy, from a New Zealand perspective.

On one level, the efforts undertaken by the Foreign Minister must be complimented by the efforts of others to achieve a seamless New Zealand Inc approach.

We’ve seen this happen in Valencia, and we will be seeing it again at the Rugby World Cup where Foreign Affairs, Trade and Enterprise, Tourism, Culture and Heritage, and MED will be working collectively to leverage trade, tourism and political objectives off this hugely important event.

In order to fill this role, you have to consider how some of the dynamics work.

There are some in my office who would have me constantly sitting in meetings – meeting all kinds people addressing a myriad of issues.

Some would want me reviewing policy options, Cabinet papers and the like, and there are others who would have me travelling offshore all the time.

Others still would want me to concentrate more on my role as Minister of Racing, or Associate Minister of Senior Citizens; and there are those who want me to do more as Leader of New Zealand First.

The point is that filling this role is about achieving a balance of many competing demands – sometime in the face of crises that require swift but considered responses.

The most critical part is getting the balance right.

The role requires a huge degree of coordination between the Prime Minister, and her office, and myself and my office.

There is also a significant degree of interaction with other minister's offices to achieve our policy objectives.

My office is staffed with officials who carry out many of these functions. Some focus on foreign policy; some on political dimensions. Others look after the relationship with ministerial offices, and some deal with speeches and media.

Each adds to the overall effectiveness of the role of Foreign Minister.

But at the end of the day, diplomacy works best when the personal relationships are built on respect and trust.
That is ultimately the secret of being an effective foreign Minister – get the relationships right and the rest will follow.

All of the policy papers in the world are no substitute for effective relationships.

That is not to say that there is no place for thorough policy development. In New Zealand we are well served on this front by a competent and effective ministry. You will hear from some of them throughout your studies.

Serving as Foreign Minister is both an honour and a privilege. Any chance to represent one's country as its primary advocate must be viewed as such.

Hopefully today you have a little more insight into the role, beyond the romantic, but generally false, notions put forward in some quarters.

ENDS

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