Ministry Statements & Speeches:
Āku mihi, kia koutou katoa (my acknowledgements to you all)
Good morning.
Mr Chair, thank you for the opportunity to make some opening comments. Although as I come to the end of my time as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade they might more appropriately (and deliberately) be seen as closing remarks.
I beg the Committee’s indulgence for not traversing what the Ministry has achieved over the year in review. This is instead an opportunity to offer some more enduring observations. In so doing I am in places drawing on words said elsewhere, but I hope that they bear repeating.
Mr Chair, the Ministry acts in the world to make New Zealanders safer and more prosperous. And that world has become more complicated.
It is possible to find causes for optimism and opportunity, of course, but the daily reality is that global power is being contested and significant pressure is being placed on the existing international system and many of the principles and rules that underpin it.
To which could be added pervasive challenges like climate change, unregulated migration and uneven access to the benefits of globalisation, which are fuelling uncertainty and nationalistic responses.
As a result, predictability, one of the rivets of international affairs, is currently sprung.
This is playing out most dynamically in our own hemisphere. Never before have the United States, China, Japan and India been major regional powers simultaneously. New constructs such as the Free and Open Indo-Pacific and the Belt and Road Initiative are emerging to reflect these realities. And some of the world’s potential hot-spots are in a part of the world – North Asia – which lacks much of the formal architecture used by states to support dialogue, norms and rules.
It is not surprising that much of the commentary about this international situation is focused on the United States and China, and is increasingly being couched in terms of us needing to choose between one partner or the other.
But the idea that we need to make some kind of some zero sum strategic choice is perhaps both objectively flawed and an admission of failure. Indeed, New Zealand has long sought to chart an independent course in its foreign relations, seeking to navigate issues on their merits. This has seen us across any number of governments strike positions that have suited neither old friends nor new. Our long-standing disposition has been to come down on the side of principle.
New Zealand’s values, which are rooted in fairness, as well as our reputation for domestic stability, robust institutions and constructive pragmatism, underpin that principled approach.
This is therefore a time for us to be resolute in our commitment to democracy, openness and tolerance; to the rule of law and its associated institutions which both underpin and stem from that democracy; to the continued building of our economic and social capital; and to the universal civil, political and human rights (including academic freedom) to which New Zealand is covenanted and which we have enshrined in legislation.
Being resilient at home gives us more scope to act with independence abroad.
It is into this bedrock of our national values and our national resilience that the four foundational pillars of New Zealand’s foreign policy – rules, architecture, relationships and diversification – are driven.
We benefit from a rules-based international order which reflects our national values; which is based on the sovereignty of the nation state; which delivers all such states the same rights and obligations regardless of size, location or power; and which requires the peaceful and lawful resolution of disputes.
The mere existence of rules is, however, insufficient. Only in the interplay between the rights of the state and its obligations to the collective are they given life. And the theatre for this interplay is international and regional architecture. It is by being a member of the United Nations or the East Asia Summit, for example, that makes it possible for New Zealand to reinforce the rules-based order, to amplify our influence on it and within it, and to benefit from it.
But if rules and architecture represent the bourse of foreign policy, bilateral relationships are its currency. New Zealand profits from building and sustaining a network of strong bilateral relationships, some held long and others short, across all regions, which we can leverage in the pursuit of shared interest.
The fourth foundational pillar is the diversification of our trade. Trading a range of goods and services across a range of markets, and securing investment from a range of sources, helps to underpin New Zealand’s prosperity and insulate us from the volatility of the international economy.
It is upon these foundations that the Ministry and its work can be placed.
We are helping to build a strong economy at home by growing the value, sustainability and reach of New Zealand’s exports.
We are intensifying long-standing efforts to embed New Zealand as an active and integral partner in the Asia-Pacific: that part of the world where the balance of New Zealand’s economic and security interests requires the most accurate calibration, and where we must be a participant and not a spectator.
We are working to sustain a stable, prosperous and resilient Pacific in which New Zealand’s interests and influence are safeguarded.
We are continuing to support sustainable international solutions to global environment and natural resource challenges that impact on New Zealand, with a particular focus on climate change.
And we are leading New Zealand’s diplomatic efforts to advance the safety of New Zealanders, including when they travel, and to protect New Zealand’s security.
Let me now try and bring all of this together.
New Zealand has global interests. Those interests exist in an environment which is becoming more contested, not just issue-by-issue but in terms of the fundamental rules and architecture which has served us well for more than 70 years. That contest is acute in our own region, which is also where the underpinnings of our prosperity and identity are most closely interrogated.
It is, however, possible to identify some propositions which successive governments have adopted and which could help to safeguard and advance New Zealand’s position in such a world.
First, strengthen and sustain economic, social and institutional resilience at home.
Second, be deliberate in supporting New Zealand’s values, speaking out in defence of them when required, even where that might put us at odds with others.
Third, have a clear sense of our interests, over both the short-run and the long.
Fourth, uphold existing international law consistently and predictably, including when any major partner deviates from rules and norms in ways that harm our interests.
Fifth, work with like-minded countries to reinforce international and regional architecture that has served New Zealand well.
Sixth, be willing to entertain new rules and new architecture which is open and transparent, consonant with our values and by which we might advance our interests.
Seventh, continue to build a global portfolio of friendships and connections, placing particular weight on those who share our values, or who share our long-term interests, or who have a meaningful degree influence regionally or multilaterally, or who could play a spoiling role.
Eighth, accelerate efforts to embed New Zealand in the emerging regional economic architecture (such as CPTPP and RCEP) and its associated rules and architecture.
Ninth, continue our efforts to build social licence, not just for trade and climate change policies but for foreign and security policy, and for diplomatic solutions more generally.
Conclusion
Mr Chair, New Zealand has long been privileged by the quality of its political leadership, on all sides of the House. Politics is a particularly punishing form of public service. I would therefore like to conclude by gratefully acknowledging the work of this Committee and of those Ministers past and present whom I have been honoured to serve during my time as Secretary.
I have been hugely lucky in the quality of my Parliamentary engagements as well as by the talent and dedication shown by the extraordinary people who make up the Ministry, onshore and offshore. This role is a privilege and I am grateful for the support, commitment and forbearance shown by all.
And so I would like to venture a tenth and last principle. The spirit of bipartisanship in the considered pursuit of New Zealand’s international interests, which has long been one of our great national assets, is now more important than ever. Few other countries can claim such an asset, and we should protect it.
Thank you.