"The reinstatement of the role of Minister of Disarmament & Arms Control is a good sign from the New Zealand government. If this role is to mean anything, the first priority should be to end all governmental support for the weapons trade including the annual Weapons Expo," said Auckland Peace Action member Valerie Morse.

"The weapons trade exists to profit from war and human misery."

"Over the past 10 years, the government has been involved in the weapons trade through a number of channels.* These include Callaghan Research and Development grants to global weapons dealers like Cubic Defence. They also include support for the Defence Industry Association and significant participation in the annual Weapons Expo. This expo is an industry trade show sponsored by nuclear-weapons giant Lockheed Martin. Another channel of government involvement is the millions of dollars of Superfund investment in Top 10 weapons companies."

"The new Minister for Disarmament & Arms Control needs to deliver on an ambitious agenda to demilitarise the country starting with getting rid of the local arms dealers. This is the kind of peace work we expect from the Rt. Hon Winston Peters, and the peace movement will be keeping the pressure on the weapons industry to shut it down for good."

ENDS

*See Profiting from War: New Zealand's weapons and military-related industry (2015 PDF)

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