UK Commonwealth initiative underwhelms NZ govt
"Imagine what we could still achieve if we pooled our resources together and, dare I say it, how better we'd be able to protect our interests?"
Featured commentThe British government is about to launch a new Commonwealth initiative – even if New Zealand's Minister of Foreign Affairs is playing it down.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague is to deliver a speech in Canada today (NZ time) which will, it has been reported in London newspapers, help rebuild Commonwealth ties and boost the clout of the Commonwealth against the eurozone.
The announcement has caused a bit of head scratching in the New Zealand capital.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully’s office expressed perplexity when first asked about the issue by NBR ONLINE at 8.30am yesterday and only managed a short response shortly before 3.30pm.
"We already co-locate with the UK in Kabul and have had positive discussions about co-location elsewhere,” Mr McCully’s press secretary Billie Moore emailed mid-afternoon.
More seasoned observers of New Zealand’s trade and diplomatic arena have noted the idea of some sort of co-location with other Commonwealth nations has been discussed for more than 20 years and always comes up when governments are looking for ways to cut spending on their expensive foreign posts.
Mr Hague is promoting the initiative heavily in Britain but this seems at least partly driven by domestic political concerns. The initiative was floated over the weekend in the Daily Mail – a Tory, but highly Eurosceptic, newspaper – and it is very much being slanted as a way for the UK government to get one over the European Union.
More substantively, the initiative is part of a shift in British foreign policy announced after David Cameron’s Conservative-Liberal coalition government took over in 2010.
Since the Suez Crisis in 1956 UK foreign policy has emphasised British interests as being at the centre of three concentric circles: Europe, the United States and the Commonwealth/former Empire.
The final circle of the three has been very much the poor relation since Britain joined what was then called the European Economic Community in 1973.
In the years of Tony Blair’s Labour government, Commonwealth affairs were very much eclipsed by the trans-Atlantic alliance, especially after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and by the persistent domestic rows over European policy.
Mr Hague – who led the Conservative Party between 1997 and 2001 and is very much of its Eurosceptic faction – is positioning tomorrow’s announcement as a blow for the “old Commonwealth” of Canada, Australia and New Zealand against the eurozone.
The move “will seek to head off the creeping influence of European Union diplomats”, Conservative Party blog Tory Diary reported.
The Daily Mail reported the move will “launch a worldwide network of British Commonwealth embassies to rival the emergence of the EU as a foreign superpower” and that “he hopes Australia and New Zealand will join the initiative whereby the four countries will pool their resources to extend their combined influence on world affairs”.
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Comments and questions11
Sounds like a very good idea.
These ideas are helpful. New Zealand does have a lot to offer. It makes sense to further ties and such diplomacy might be able to lead to all sorts of mutual benefits that make life easier. The thought that we can do more together is the basic one and surely that is one to further in many other ways also. We have seen a lot of erosion in recent years with regards to travel and work rights and so when there are initiatives that get people talking it can help to exempt us here potentially from trends to put up walls.
The impression being given is that Britain would like to see New Zealand as an exception to certain tendencies and to be part of a priority relationship. That is important if it is to be the way forward and so welcome if given. If while there is a certain Euroscepticism in certain quarters, but an open-armed welcome to us here while such trends emerge, then why should we not embrace being that exception, and fully? Immigration to Britain has become harder in recent years and perhaps the special relationship could be highlighted further and made simpler for all New Zealanders, to keep this important relationship vibrant and strengthening.
Any preferential treatment would be ideal and helpful and something to be pleased about to see further opportunities come about. Culturally we have so much shared heritage. If travel rights and work rights of our citizens are greatly enhanced it would help. Sharing our embassy work further might assist in easing the way for all sorts of positive outcomes in other related spheres. These British initiatives should be endorsed as a way of opening the door to further related conversations to enhance our very good relationship further still. We have lost some rights over the years and perhaps it is time to revisit those and get things back to basics once more.
The UK Govt. hasn't been the slightest bit interested in this country for 30 years, and now that it realises its engagement to Europe has diminished its international standing to that of 'just another country in Europe', it is floundering around trying to reestablish its glory days of old. It's a bit late for that if you ask me, New Zealand has moved on, and much like a former relationship it's very difficult to go back to the way things once were.
The UK needs to reinvent itself, and to reinvent its relationship with countries like New Zealand. We are not the country we were 30, 40, 50 years ago, and I'm not sure if the UK really understands that. But it will need to fully understand what modern New Zealand is if it's going to engage and partner with us in a way that is relevant to our needs and interests in the Asia-Pacific. And with this new initiative above, the first thing New Zealand needs to do is to stand back and ask, what do we get out of it? What's on the table? it may be a great idea, but it will need to be a hell of a lot more than just saving a few bucks.
Exactly. Remarkable how the British only "rediscovered" the Commonwealth after Europe started looking all scary...
Blood is thicker than water. We British must rely more on our friends in the Commonwealth instead of our present European overlords.
In the grand scheme of things, Great Britain, Australia, Canada and New Zealand share the same fundamental values as each other, the same language, a shared history and a shared Queen.
Together Great Britain, Ausrtralia, New Zealand and Canada did more than any other nation(s) to defeat Nazism.
Imagine what we could still achieve if we pooled our resources together and, dare I say it, how better we'd be able to protect our interests?
From a historical perspective that isn't exactly correct. it was the USSR that sustained and inflicted more than 80% of German casulties and war effort.
I agree entirely. Of more concern though is that you got 2 dislikes from those that seem to have an issue with the defeat of Nazism. What plonkers!
It is time for the 4 major players in the Commonwealth to step up together, deeper integration between us all can only help together we are 126.5 million strong! With a combined GDP of 5.26 trillion the US and China would have to hear us as, we all earned the right to have say on foreign policy yet we have become lap dogs to the USA. NZ,AUS,UK,Canada are family if we formed a union we would be 3rd largest economy on earth and 3rd largest military on earth and we would have the respect that our grand parents earned us. As a Canadian, the US has eroded most of our culture but the vestige memory remains, we know who we are our traditions remain strong and we share a sliver of the same culture. Our countries are know for their friendliness and compassion and we see our peoples as family, I know Canadians would love to extend that beyond just our borders and too the old family once again! We all have tough choices ahead I hope we can make them together!
Clearly, NZ would stand to gain greatly increased exposure to the rest of the world at a lower cost than it can on its own. So just this initiative is worth considering seriously.
As was said above, the NZ, AUS, Canada and UK working as a bloc in the future (when it suits them all) and increasing/reinforcing links would have a lot of benefits.
Just imagine a hypothetical situation - UK has a dispute with France over ownership of an island in the Channel. Do you think there would be state-sponsored and/or spontaneous attacks by British people on French shops and businesses in Britain? No.