April 14, 2023
Nuclear free Pacific refresh
The Green Party spokesperson for Pacific Peoples, Teanau Tuiono, says a mission to the region next week will be a chance to refresh support for an independent and nuclear free Pacific.
Mr Tuiono is accompanying Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Carmel Sepuloni on the trip to Fiji, Tonga and Solomon Islands.
He says New Zealand’s nuclear free status is important for the region.
“It’s actually part of our collective tradition as well, for those of us who remember the 80s and 90s and before then, flotillas from Greenpeace going out to protest nuclear bombs in Mururoa and stuff has really shaped who we are, so really interested to take soundings from them,” Mr Tuiono says.
He’s also keen to hear the views of Pacific leaders on how the RSE worker scheme, as well as concerns from Solomon Islands’ prime minister Manasseh Damukana Sogavare on his country not being included in New Zealand’s visa waiver arrangements.