Question 1. KEITH LOCKE (Green) to the Prime Minister:
When she discusses trade, Afghanistan, and instability in the Pacific with George W Bush at the White House next week, will she also be raising climate change, the United States’ human rights record, and the war in Iraq?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister):
The time for such meetings is always limited, and my intention is to focus on progressing areas for cooperation. I have made it clear that Iraq is not on my agenda to raise. I have participated in discussions involving President Bush around energy, security, and climate change in APEC within the last 4 months, and I would observe that raising human rights issues is a two-edged sword.
Keith Locke:
What will she say to George Bush about the United States’ barbaric treatment of prisoners at Guantánamo Bay, and the American Government’s practice of rendering prisoners to torture in third countries?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
It is not on my agenda to raise issues of that kind with the President. As I have already observed, raising human rights issues is a two-edged sword.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen:
Given the reference made by the Prime Minister to a two-edged sword, what kinds of human rights issues might the United States President raise in relation to New Zealand?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
It is the practice of the US State Department to issue each year a report on human rights practices in other countries. The one for New Zealand, released just recently, drew attention to the level of violence against women. It drew attention to the poor socio-economic status of indigenous people, to attacks on Jewish cemeteries in our country, and to other issues. I observe that once one opens up issues, then the comeback could be interesting.
Jeanette Fitzsimons:
Will she be telling George W Bush about her aspirations for New Zealand to become carbon neutral, which I think have been stated since the APEC meeting 4 months ago, and will she be asking him to meet the challenge put forward by the European Union by committing to reduce his country’s greenhouse emissions to 30 percent below 1990 levels by 2020 to help tackle climate change?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
I am perfectly happy to advise the President of what New Zealand is doing with its aspirations to be truly sustainable and carbon neutral in time. I would observe that the President contributed fully to a discussion at APEC around issues of better energy efficiency, more energy security, and investing in the sorts of technologies that would be helpful over time.
Heather Roy:
When she is meeting the President of the United States of America, will she reinforce the Minister of Foreign Affairs’ statement that Iraq would slide into total chaos if United States troops were pulled out, or will she say that was the personal opinion of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and that her Government’s position is different, or will she not be mentioning the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his policies, at all?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
I refer the member to the first answer that I gave when I said that Iraq was not on my agenda to raise. With regard to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, I would note that he has already formed a very good working relationship with the Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and I am absolutely certain that that good relationship will be referred to in the course of my visit.
Rt Hon Winston Peters:
Has she observed in her time as a Prime Minister or as a parliamentarian that when one spends all one’s time criticising one’s host, the opportunity for the host to have any regard for one’s views is severely limited?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
That is a highly common-sense observation in my opinion.
Keith Locke:
When the Prime Minister says that raising human rights issues is a double-edged sword, is she saying that the human rights violations committed by the United States at Guantánamo Bay and in the rendition programme are in some way comparable with the human rights issues raised in the United States report on New Zealand, and should New Zealand not take the high moral ground in an exchange of human rights standards between the two countries?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
I am sure that if New Zealand had detainees at Guantánamo Bay, as other friendly countries such as Australia or the United Kingdom have had, the issue of Guantánamo Bay would be on my agenda. It is not because we have not.
Peter Brown:
Will the Prime Minister take the opportunity to impress upon the President that the solution to the World’s climate change problems depends more on the largest nations, including the USA, doing their very best, and that New Zealand with its very limited population can do little more than be a good global citizen?
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK:
As I said I have participated in a discussion around these issues in a forum with the President present and fully participating. It is my belief and it is the Government’s view that we do need the major emitters on board to make a real difference, and that our contribution, although of course important to us because we want to be seen as a good international citizen — and to be one — is critical. I am mindful that even a large industrial economy such as the British one contributes only around 2 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, and so we really are looking over time for the United States, China, India, and other large economies with a lot of emissions to come in.
Keith Locke:
I seek leave to table a European Parliament report just issued on the alleged use of European countries by the CIA for the transportation and illegal detention of prisoners.
Leave granted.
Keith Locke:
I seek leave to table a document Close Guantánamo — Symbol of Injustice, a recent Amnesty International report.
Leave granted.