NZ offers to help Thailand fight challenges, corruption
With 60 years of diplomatic relations, the two countries enjoy special ties that go beyond normal friendship, writes John Draper
Former New Zealand prime minister Jim Bolger is on a visit to Thailand as part of the 60th Anniversary of ThaiNew Zealand diplomatic relations. He speaks to John Draper about the achievements during that time.
What have been the highlights of your premiership and Thai-New Zealand relations?
During my premiership, the establishment of the Mekong Institute [at Khon Kaen University] was the real highlight. New Zealand and Thailand had a shared vision about the potential of this region. And look at what a success it has been. But the New Zealand-Thailand relationship is much older, and without doubt one of the high points of the relationship was the visit to New Zealand by Their Majesties in 1962. Many New Zealanders of my generation still remember that visit fondly.
Another high point is the way that Thailand and New Zealand support each other in times of trouble. New Zealand contributed to the regional response following the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004. And New Zealanders will never forget the generous support from the Thai government after the devastating earthquake in Christchurch in 2011. There have been many other high points in the relationship, including the conclusion of the New Zealand-Thailand Closer Economic Partnership in 2005. Since then, our bilateral trade has doubled.
New Zealand is lauded for its enlightened adoption of cultural rights and a sophisticated solution to the issue of indigenous rights. What insights can you offer?
Let me start by saying that it is not New Zealand’s style to lecture our friends. We offer our perspectives and experiences in the hope they might offer some useful insights. And we also listen carefully to our friends’ perspectives and experiences, which can enrich New Zealand’s approach to certain issues.
What we are trying to resolve in New
Zealand dates back to the Treaty of Waitangi, which was signed by Maori rangatira, or chiefs, and representatives of the British Crown in 1840. The Treaty set forth noble goals, many of which New Zealand governments ignored for the first few decades. However, government and Maori are now working together, sharing, and recognising each other’s contribution. We have devised some quite radical solutions. For example, instead of people owning a park, maybe a park can own itself? Thus, it is not a question of ownership. It is a question of who looks after it, and that is a shared responsibility. This kind of solution reflects how
many indigenous cultures have traditionally viewed land ownership.
One thing we have learned in New Zealand is how important it is to say “sorry”. Every settlement between the Crown — essentially, the government with Her Majesty the Queen’s representative as the Head of State — and a Maori claimant group is recorded in legislation. And every piece of Treaty settlement legislation contains an extensive apology by the Crown acknowledging and apologising for the Treaty breaches and the impact they had on the claimant group. This has proven hugely important and demonstrates that, at the
end of the day, if you want to resolve something you have to say “sorry”. Reconciliation — any kind of reconciliation — requires an enormous amount of magnanimity from both sides.
New Zealand ranks near the top in the world for low corruption. How?
New Zealand works hard to maintain itself as a transparent and open business environment. We believe that this is important to continue to increase the standard of living of all New Zealanders. And doing this requires maintaining a culture of transparency in which any form of corruption — or even the perception of corruption — is seen as unacceptable.
While Thailand and New Zealand face different challenges combating corruption, we are passing on what we have learned to Thailand where we can. Every year the New Zealand government offers scholarships and short-term training opportunities to Thai students and public servants, with a focus on good governance and publicsector leadership.
How can New Zealand assist Thailand, leader of the G77, in reaching key UN sustainable development goals?
All countries are faced with the challenges of managing issues in the global commons such as energy, fisheries, climate change, access to water, and so on. No-one has a monopoly on wisdom in these areas. And the solution to the challenges of the commons is to work together — none of us can or will address these issues on our own. We work closely with Thailand on these issues bilaterally, regionally, and in multilateral institutions.
For example, Thailand and New Zealand are both members of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases, which brings together 46 countries to find ways to grow more food without growing greenhouse gas emissions. Thailand recently worked closely with New Zealand and several other countries to detain a vessel that had been carrying out Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing in the Southern Ocean, and New Zealand experts have provided capacity building to Thai authorities to combat IUU fishing in their own waters.
We believe we can contribute to building public confidence in police investigations.
While recognising the Deep South is an internal issue, how can New Zealand assist as a friend?
We recognise that the issues in the Deep South are complex and sensitive. What we have sought to do, as a friend, consistent with our approach to the broader political conflicts in Thailand, is to look for ways in which New Zealand can offer practical expertise that can, in small ways, make positive contributions in the Deep South. One example of this is the support we are giving, in partnership with The Asia Foundation, to forensic investigation training for the Royal Thai Forensic Police based in the Deep South. Through building the capacity of the RTP in this way, we believe we can contribute to building public confidence in police investigations, and the credibility of evidence being considered in judicial processes in the Deep South in particular.
More broadly, we continue to offer our expertise and support to the Thai government in areas that will have a positive impact on the situation in the Deep South, including strengthening Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, enabling and protecting human rights defenders, and promoting political dialogue and reconciliation.