NZ ‘resets’ strategy on aid to Pacific

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has promised to increase New Zealand’s development spending in the Pacific as part of a regional ‘‘reset’’.

Peters spoke about the changing dynamics in the Pacific region during a speech to the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Australia, on Thursday night.

New Zealand is the Pacific’s second-largest donor, accounting for around a 10th of total development spending in the region.

About 60 per cent of New Zealand’s total aid spend goes to its Pacific neighbours. However, that spending has not kept pace with gross national income (GNI).

Despite a longtime global commitment to lift its aid spend to 0.7 per cent of GNI, New Zealand’s spending as a proportion of GNI declined from 0.3 per cent in 2008 to 0.25 per cent in 2016.

Peters has said aid expenditure was in ‘‘serious need of review’’, following ‘‘nine years of underfunding by the previous government’’, adding that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade had not had a budgetary increase since 2008.

If not arrested, aid spending would fall below 0.21 per cent of GNI by 2021, Peters said.

‘‘New Zealand is a small, realistic and pragmatic country. We know we cannot help the Pacific solve its problems on our own – as there will always be someone with deeper pockets than ours and some Pacific leaders are attracted to easy sources of funding.’’

Peters appealed to Australia to work with New Zealand on its renewed development focus in the Pacific, saying there had not been a time since 1945 when it was so important the two nations join forces to help their Pacific neighbours.

He cited the cohesive and unhesitating collaboration by the trans-Tasman partners in the wake of natural disasters like Cyclone Gita, saying that sort of collaboration should be applied when dealing with other issues in the Pacific.

‘‘As part of the Pacific family, New Zealand is conscious that our identity, our national security and our prosperity are inextricably linked. We have, in a very genuine sense, a shared Pacific destiny.

‘‘For these reasons the new government in New Zealand is undergoing a Pacific reset.’’