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Ladies and Gentlemen

In my eight years serving as Foreign Minister I can’t think of a more interesting time to be addressing this group.

We are entering period of global uncertainty on a number of fronts.

Populism and nationalism are on the rise in many quarters.

During my occasional visits to New Zealand I am often asked which countries I have been to where the economy is in such good shape and the political scene is so stable. The answer, of course, is nowhere.

New Zealand welcomes today’s opportunity to discuss the serious threat to international peace and security posed by terrorist targeting of civil aviation.

I thank UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for his leadership on the resolution just adopted.

Air links are critical to New Zealand. More than 99 percent of our international visitors arrive by air, and around 15 percent of our exports are transported by air. The security of international civil aviation is therefore of vital importance to my country.

It is deeply disappointing to have to acknowledge that the comments I am about to make, and that others will make today, could have been made with equal force and relevance at any time in the last two and a half years since negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians were suspended. 

We all express dismay and outrage about the violence affecting ordinary Israelis and Palestinians; and yet innocent lives continue to be lost.

We all condemn settlements; and yet they continue to expand.

I thank Special Representative Yamamoto for his briefing. Sir, you have assumed your role at pivotal moment for Afghanistan.  

Afghanistan has been at war for far too long. Indeed, most Afghan people have no memory of anything but war.

New Zealand speaks today as a country that has supported Afghanistan in its pursuit of peace and stability over many decades, stretching back to the withdrawal of Soviet forces in 1989.

I will now make a statement in my capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs for New Zealand.

At the outset can I welcome the Colombian Permanent Representative to the Security Council today.

The historic peace agreement concluded between the Government of Colombia and the FARC rebels on 24 August represents a significant milestone, one that offers the promise of a future of security and prosperity for all Colombians in the years to come.

I want to thank Foreign Minister Lavrov for very constructive discussions and a warm reception in Moscow.

We have held full and wide ranging discussions. Russia plays an important role in global affairs and I valued the opportunity to hear Russia’s views directly.

Bilaterally we have seen trade relations decline in the last two years.

New Zealand and Russia hold different views on the situation in Ukraine, and while we are not part of the sanctions or counter-sanctions process, these differences have constrained trade relations.

As delivered by Hon. Murray McCully, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 11 May 2016 (New York time).

Mr President, members of the Security Council, may I start by thanking Minister Shoukry for convening this debate on countering terrorist narratives and ideologies.

Today we deal with a threat whose scale and spread requires a global and collective response, and surely commands the attention of the Security Council.

My country, New Zealand, once regarded itself as largely removed from the threat of international terrorism, protected by its geography.

As Delivered by Hon Murray McCully, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 10 May, 2016 (New York time)

Mr President, Excellencies.

I thank the President of the General Assembly for convening this debate, and for challenging us to ask how well the United Nations is performing at heading off and responding to situations of conflict.

A robust international rules-based system, and a respected United Nations institution to maintain those rules, lies at the heart of New Zealand’s political, economic and security outlook.

Delivered in New York, Monday 18 April 2016 (local time).

Thank you Mr President and other members of the Security Council.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Today I would like to give you an overview of New Zealand’s international priorities for 2016, provide an update on our work on the United Nations Security Council, and talk about our role in the Pacific.

But first of all, the reason I’m here in Australia.  Tomorrow, I will be in Canberra for the six-monthly consultations with Julie Bishop.

Acknowledgments

• Professor Kishore Mahbubani
• Distinguished guests
• Ladies and gentlemen

Thank you for the opportunity to address you today and to share New Zealand’s perspective on some of the pressing issues facing our region and the world.

Before I begin, I’d like to acknowledge this School’s founder, Lee Kuan Yew, as we approach a year since his passing.