Govt did the right thing – eventually
There is only one side to be on in this Britain-Russia stoush.
yellow card for the first infringement (10 minutes off the field) followed by the red for repeated offending, this time for the duration of the match.
Australian cricketers have a win at all cost attitude. But surely no respectable team captain would risk losing perhaps his best player on day one.
I’d lay good odds on an immediate change of attitude.
Gary Blair, Mapua ‘‘Where she goes, we go. Where she stands, we stand’’.
Uttered by Prime Minister Michael Joseph Savage at the outset of World War II, the famous statement was the justification for New Zealand following the mother country into battle.
Good grief.
Thank goodness times have changed and New Zealand has forged its own fiercely independent foreign policy – one based historically on doing what’s right and standing up to bullies.
Which brings us back to that statement made in 1939.
We are thankfully independent, and we’re much wiser to the implications of wading into a stoush that may not directly affect us. And let’s be clear, no one is talking war – this is a diplomatic test.
Still, the United Kingdom has asked for New Zealand’s support in dealing with Russian aggression and on this, only one side is the right side.
It’s not with Vladimir Putin.
The Government got there in the end, but it took Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern more than a week to pull rank on her foreign minister and suspend efforts to restart trade talks with Russia.
An outrageous attack, using a banned chemical weapon, has taken place on British soil against a former Russian double agent. All signs point to Russia.
In a rare joint statement, US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister Theresa May said ‘‘there is no plausible alternative explanation’’ to Russian responsibility.
The leaders said the use of a chemical weapon is ‘‘an assault on UK sovereignty’’ and ‘‘a breach of international law’’.
In an equally rare move, the British Government has briefed foreign media – including New Zealand’s – on its intention to call on these countries’ support should it move forward with any diplomatic sanctions.
Where it comes to Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ persistence in pursuing a free trade agreement with Russia, both the British Government and the EU has been clear: do so at risk to free trade agreements with us.
Yet Peters until Friday, appeared to be stubbornly clinging to the idea he could achieve it because it was written in to NZ First and Labour’s coalition agreement.
No one was crying out for it and any risk it might have to securing free trade deals with the UK and the EU is simply not worth it.
Equivocations, as the world inches closer into what can only be described as a Cold War-type standoff, could jeopardise New Zealand’s trade opportunities and credibility on the world stage and it would be personal pride that does it.
It’s hard to fathom what might have prevented a strong statement from Peters earlier, in support of defending the international rulesbased system, a large part of the foundation upon which New Zealand foreign policy is based.
Perhaps he thought that if he just spoke with enough nuance, if he said the things everyone wanted to hear, he could play it from all sides.
This was never one of those situations.
There is a right side, there is a wrong side and New Zealand has a reputation on the international stage for not confusing the two.
If the UK asks for our help on this, we should accept the call and stand unflinchingly behind one of our closest partners.
More than that, we should want to.
It took Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern more than a week to pull rank on her foreign minister and suspend efforts to restart trade talks with Russia.