New Zealand, 2007

As we meet for the

sixty-second session of the General Assembly, we look

again to the United Nations as the global forum to

address the challenges which affect us all.

Climate change is serious and urgent, as many

have said in this Hall. We welcome that it has been the

theme of our general debate this year. The science is

clear. Climate change is real and will impact on all

parts of the world. To meet the global challenge of

climate change, there must be widespread and effective

international action. It will be important to get all

economies onto low carbon pathways over time.

Market mechanisms will have a significant role to play.

Individual countries will face different challenges.

Different national circumstances must be taken into

account.

The United Nations climate change conference in

Bali in December will be a fresh opportunity to

re-energize our efforts in addressing climate change.

New Zealand wants to see a Bali road map emerge in

December to set us on the course for an effective future

response. New Zealand welcomes the momentum that

is being generated by other high-level meetings in the

lead-up to Bali, including the recent Asia-Pacific

Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Declaration.

Last week’s high-level event deserves special

mention. We congratulate the Secretary-General for his

efforts in cultivating the political goodwill that will be

vital if we are to reach agreement in Bali.

Taking action as an international community also

means taking action domestically. In recent weeks,

New Zealand has announced a number of domestic

measures to address climate change. An emissions

trading scheme will be established from 1 January

2008 and will form the cornerstone of our efforts to

reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It will, over time,

cover all sectors and all gases.

We have also identified a number of longer-term

domestic goals, which will move New Zealand down

the path to carbon neutrality. They will provide

benefits, including healthier homes, cleaner air and

improved public transport. While climate change is

certainly a challenge for us all, it is also an opportunity

to move towards a more sustainable world.

With regard to the Millennium Development

Goals, we recognize that having passed the halfway

point to 2015, the international community needs to

step up its efforts to achieve them. At the same time,

there is scope for the United Nations development

system to be strengthened. We welcome the newly

established initiatives in the Economic and Social

Council the Annual Ministerial Review and the

Development Cooperation Forum as practical ways

to share information about what is working and where

we can improve our efforts at country level.

New Zealand is also committed to improving

system-wide coherence at the United Nations in the

fields of development, humanitarian issues and the

environment. We attach particular importance to

working for a strengthened, coherent, gender

architecture and towards effective gender

mainstreaming across all United Nations entities.

New Zealand welcomes the completion of the

United Nations Pacific-based development agencies’

strategic framework for the Pacific. We are keen to

work closely with United Nations agencies in the

Pacific to achieve positive outcomes for our partners in

the areas of human rights, sexual and reproductive

heath, HIV/AIDS, child immunization and women’s

leadership.

A strong, prosperous and stable Pacific is a key

foreign policy priority for New Zealand. We place a

high priority on fostering solidarity and cooperation in

the Pacific to tackle the challenges the region faces in

democracy, security and economic development.

Around half of New Zealand’s development assistance

goes towards the Pacific.

New Zealand provides assistance in the region in

Timor-Leste, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and

Bougainville in Papua New Guinea, with each situation

calling for a different response.

The Timorese people, their leaders and the

international community have all made a huge effort

over the past year to return Timor-Leste to a more

secure and stable path. New Zealand has participated in

those efforts through our contributions to the

International Security Forces and to the United Nations

Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). Timor-

Leste will require a sustained commitment from

UNMIT.

The situation in Fiji continues to be of concern to

New Zealand. As a neighbour of Fiji with a long-

standing and very close relationship, New Zealand

worked hard to avert last December’s coup, including

by convening a meeting to mediate between the then

Prime Minister and the military commander. We very

much regret that this failed to dissuade the coup

makers from their illegal and unconstitutional path.

New Zealand strongly and actively supports the

steps that have been taken by the Pacific Islands Forum

to encourage an early return to constitutional

government in Fiji. We would welcome a firm

commitment from the interim administration to work

towards elections within the timeframe endorsed by the

Forum. Given that commitment, New Zealand would

begin to restore a more normal bilateral relationship

through which we could cooperate in addressing Fiji’s

undoubtedly complex problems.

I also want to take this opportunity to address one

issue in particular raised in the Solomon Islands

statement on Monday (see ). It was

suggested, inter alia, that the presence of the Regional

Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI),

was an “occupation”, and that RAMSI’s operation

transgressed Article 52 of the United Nations Charter.

New Zealand has always been committed to upholding

the purposes and principles of the Charter in every

respect. In our view, RAMSI is entirely consistent with

those purposes and principles. It is a specific example

of Chapter VIII of the Charter in operation. To suggest

it is contrary to the Charter is in our view wrong.

RAMSI was established in response to a formal request

from the Solomon Islands. Its presence in the Solomon

Islands is sanctioned by treaty and by the domestic law

of the Solomon Islands. That was recently reaffirmed

by the Solomon Islands Parliament. Moreover, RAMSI

stems from the endorsement by Pacific Islands Forum

Foreign Ministers of a programme of action under the

Forum Leaders’ Biketawa Declaration. That provides a

framework for regional responses in times of crisis or

when members request assistance exactly the

situation in this case.

Amid all these challenges, I would like to report

on activity being undertaken by Tokelau, the tiny

territory 500 kilometres north of Samoa that New

Zealand administers. The people of Tokelau, all 1,500

of them on three atolls, have decided that they wish to

undertake an act of self-determination to decide

whether they wish to change their present status. A

vote in February 2006 narrowly missed the threshold

set by Tokelau for a change of status. They will again

vote on that issue from 20 to 24 October.

As members of the Special Committee on

Decolonization know, New Zealand supports Tokelau’s

right to choose, but has stood back from any wish to

determine the direction of any change. That decision is

entirely for the people of Tokelau. New Zealand will

support their decision.

Advancement of the rule of law at the national

and international levels is essential for the realization

of sustained economic growth, development and

human rights. New Zealand encourages members to

provide their full support to the International Criminal

Court (ICC) by acceding to the Rome Statute of the

ICC. We also call on all United Nations Member

States, especially State parties to the Rome Stature, to

fully cooperate with the Court in carrying out its

current work. Universality and full support are crucial

if we are to end the impunity of the perpetrators of the

most serious crimes of international concern, such as

those carried out in Darfur, where International

Criminal Court arrest warrants are outstanding.

Efforts to protect and maintain the international

rule of law can only be effective when built on a

foundation of international peace and security.

Interfaith and intercultural dialogue can help to

counter religious extremism by encouraging

understanding and respect among different faith

communities and cultures.

In May, New Zealand hosted two significant

gatherings aimed at advancing global response to

interfaith and intercultural issues in a practical way. We

regard the United Nations’ Alliance of Civilizations as

the key multilateral process among the growing

number of international and regional initiatives in this

area.

With respect to nuclear proliferation, New

Zealand welcomes the strong signals that have been

sent to North Korea and Iran by the Security Council.

On a different topic, New Zealand is convinced

that the humanitarian harm posed by cluster munitions

must be addressed urgently. We believe that negotiation

of a treaty to deal with the problems caused by cluster

mines is well overdue. We will host a meeting on this

initiative in February of next year.

We are pleased, too, to promote a new initiative

at the General Assembly this year calling for action to

lower the operational status of nuclear weapons.

Maintaining nuclear weapons at a high level of

readiness increases the likelihood of these weapons

being used, with catastrophic consequences.

The humanitarian disaster and conflict in Darfur

threaten security in the entire East African region. New

Zealand applauds the efforts by Members to establish

the new African Union-United Nations Hybrid

Operation in Darfur.

New Zealand is deeply concerned at the current

political, economic and humanitarian situation in

Zimbabwe. We welcome the efforts being made to find

acceptable solutions to the problems Zimbabwe faces.

We sincerely hope that these efforts continue and that

solutions can be found that will benefit all

Zimbabweans and will enable free and fair elections to

be held.

New Zealand remains profoundly concerned at

the situation in Myanmar. Protestors have been killed,

shot at, beaten and arrested. This violent treatment is

reprehensible. Engaging in peaceful protests is a

fundamental human right. New Zealand, therefore,

joins others in calling for the immediate release of

those detained in recent weeks, along with the many

political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who

have been held without trial for much longer periods.

The Myanmar regime should be held responsible

for the personal safety and treatment of all the people it

has detained. We call on the authorities there to stop

the violence and to encourage a process of genuine

dialogue with pro-democracy leaders and ethnic

minorities.

New Zealand fully supports United Nations

efforts to resolve the immediate and longer term

situation in Myanmar. We welcomed the visit to

Myanmar of Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari. We fully

support continued discussion of the situation of

Myanmar in the Security Council with a view to

considering what further steps might be taken by the

international community.

Turning now to human rights, New Zealand will

stand for election to the Human Rights Council for

2009 to 2012. We want to do our part to help this

fledging United Nations organization achieve its full

potential as the pre-eminent global human rights body.

A human rights issue of particular importance to

New Zealand is the death penalty. Adoption of a

resolution on a global moratorium on this inhumane

form of punishment would represent a historic step

towards global efforts to abolish the death penalty.

In closing, New Zealand has been a committed

and active participant in the United Nations since its

formation. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called

on Member States to deliver to the best of our abilities

at the United Nations, recognizing the need for faster,

more effective action, as well as for a more results-

driven Organization that strives to have the highest

standards of transparency and professional ethics. New

Zealand whole-heartedly agrees.

We look forward to working closely with the

Secretary-General, with you, Mr. President and with

other Member States in all of our efforts to build a

stronger United Nations for a better world.