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September 30, 2023
Foreign mahi goes on despite election cycle
Adam Gifford
Posted On September 30, 2023
Download AudioForeign Minister Nanaia Mahuta say the high seas biodiversity treaty New Zealand FIrst leader Winston Peters says she should not have signed was a policy he promoted when he was in the role.
The treaty was formally adopted in June after two decades of talks at the United Nations, and Minister Mahuta put New Zealand’s tohu on it when she was at the UN last week for the General Assembly.
Mr Peters has criticised the Hauraki-Waikato MP for continuing to represent New Zealand on the international stage so close to the election.
She says New Zealand has taken a leadership role in protecting marine life.
“We would find it hard to object to that because if our oceans die, and we are a Pacific country, if the life of our oceans is not protected and we have our marine life and ecosystem dying, that fundamentally impacts on all of us so I’m not sure what Winston is talking about. I think he’s prepared to say anything to get a vote these days,” she says.
Minister Mahuta has attended a range of meetings in the United States over the past week, including the second US-Pacific Islands Forum Summit in the White House.
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