NZ Firm on Pacific Principles

Drawing on NZ’s historical role in the setting up of the UN charter and as an advocate of multilateralism, Helen Clark (described as “one of Tony Blair’s closest foreign political allies”) told the Guardian that the invasion of Iraq without UN backing had created a dangerous precedent. “New Zealand always argued against the veto, argued for the rights of small states, and saw the UN as a fresh start, where the world can work out its problems together, rather than simply returning to the C19th where the great powers carved it up … who wants to go back to the jungle?” The comments position NZ as an independent and principled player on the world stage (“an honest broker in the post-Iraq world”), as Clark completed a European tour where she successfully chaired the OEC ministerial council and met with French President Jacques Chirac and British PM Tony Blair.