Election 2017: Political parties' position on NZ's role in Asia
19 September 2017
What is your vision for New Zealand’s role in Asia? Do you have specific areas of priority?
Green Party
“The Green Party values New Zealand’s role as an Asia-Pacific nation and our relationship of mutual respect with the rest of Asia.
We support the work currently being done by organisations such as the Asia New Zealand Foundation to find areas of common interest. As a priority, we would build cultural and people-to-people linkages to enhance our mutual understanding.”
Labour Party
[*Editor’s note: Labour responded to questions in this feature by referring the Asia Media Centre to its 2017 party manifesto and other publicity material.]
Excerpt from the Foreign Affairs section of the NZ Labour Party Manifesto 2017:
“Labour is committed to maximising regional arrangements such as the South Pacific Forum, APEC, ASEAN and the East Asia Forum.”
Māori Party
"The Māori Party does not have a specific vision for New Zealand’s role in Asia. However, we do wish to highlight that any trade agreement should have a Māori chapter as noted in the Free Trade Agreement with the Republic of China."
National Party
“New Zealand has a critical interest in Asia, and this drives National’s determination to be an active participant in regional integration processes and our strong support for effective regional architecture.
National will advance New Zealand’s interests through the East Asia Summit, deepen political influence within ASEAN, and increase emphasis on the contribution of the ASEAN region to Business Growth Agenda goals.
We are concluding an ambitious Singapore-New Zealand Enhanced Partnership and planning and securing the resources needed to deliver an effective and impactful APEC 2021 that will progress New Zealand’s Asia-Pacific interests and maximises opportunities.
We will continue to participate in addressing regional strategic challenges and we will continue to ensure we have effective bilateral relationships that protect and promote New Zealand’s interests."
New Zealand First
“New Zealand First believes in further developing relationships within the greater Asia-Pacific region in recognition of its growing importance to New Zealand’s security and wellbeing.”
This is one of four questions on Asia foreign policy the Asia Media Centre posed to New Zealand political parties. Read the rest of our Election 2017 feature here.
– Asia Media Centre
All responses by the parties have been published verbatim – the Asia Media Centre has not changed terminology used.
