THE CHALLENGE OF THE 21ST CENTURY

CHRISTCHURCH

Mr Jim McCrea, Managing Director of Air New Zealand; Mr Ian Matthews and Mr Brian Parry of Air New Zealand Engineering; delegates to the 21st Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting; invited guests.

I am delighted to welcome you to Christchurch.

It is an honour for New Zealand to host a Consultative Meeting, a quarter of a century on from the first such Meeting held in New Zealand.

My Government chose Christchurch as the venue because this city is our gateway to the Antarctic continent.

Here in this hangar you can see an example of the aircraft which help to maintain a unique air-bridge to the Antarctic mainland.

Our national Antarctic programme has been built on this air access.

We are privileged to have the opportunity to work in partnership with the programmes of the United States, Italy and others.

In this city you are becoming familiar with the many facets of New Zealand's interaction with Antarctica.

You will also see that Antarctica matters to New Zealanders.

It is part of our heritage and part of our national consciousness.

Antarctica is close to New Zealand.

As a maritime nation we are aware of the influence of the continent and its surrounding Ocean on our climate and on the resources of the waters around our country.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting Antarctica for the second time to mark the 40th anniversary of our national scientific programme on the ice.

I also had the privilege of visiting the South Pole for the first time.

I was surprised, and honoured, to learn afterwards that I was the first Head of Government in office to have done so.

I hope that other Leaders will have the same opportunity to visit the heart of this extraordinary continent.

Whilst on the ice I also met that remarkable man, the Norwegian Borge Ausland, who had just completed the first solo unsupported crossing of the continent.

His effort was a reminder that the courage and endurance of the earlier explorers of the great southern continent live on.

With me on the trip was one of those greats of earlier explorations, Sir Edmund Hillary, who in 1958 with his team of tough individuals drove little farm tractors from Scott Base to the Pole.

To me the continent is a place of rare beauty and unique importance.

We also know it can be cold, brutal and demanding in a way that makes man's efforts seem puny.

For all these and other reasons it is important to respect the integrity of the continent and all it means to the planet.

My visit impressed on me again not only the beauty and immensity of Antarctica; but also the warmth of international collaboration on the ice; and the very real partnerships that exist among countries working there.

In talking to young scientists out in the field I was greatly encouraged.

The relevance and quality of their research and their enthusiasm convinced me that the future of our Antarctic science is in good hands.

In meeting the challenges of the 21st century we must all be ready to work together.

We may have to contribute resources to support the collective international interest.

I am thinking in particular about the present problem faced by the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

Although this is the responsibility of the Convention, it poses a major challenge to the concept of ecosystem management which underlies the protective approach taken to Antarctic by our Treaty.

We are seriously concerned about the illegal and unregulated toothfish fishing in the Southern Ocean.

We will liaise with our partners in the Convention to take appropriate steps to prevent a "free-for-all" in the Southern Ocean.

We shall continue to take very seriously our responsibilities in respect of the Ross Sea.

Fishing is not the only challenge of resource exploitation we face in Antarctica.

The 50 year moratorium on mining which will come into effect when the Protocol is ratified is a welcome protection.

Other areas of possible use of Antarctica are opening up thanks to modern transport and communications.

Access to the continent is becoming a great deal easier.

New developments, such as air navigation services, will draw Antarctica more and more into the global village.

That is why New Zealand holds in such high regard the establishment of the Committee for Environmental Protection.

This Committee will help set the parameters for these new activities.

The Minister responsible for Antarctic Affairs, the Hon Simon Upton, has already announced two new initiatives we will be looking at to help the work of the CEP: a Ross Sea region State of the Environment Report, and a comprehensive Antarctic Specially Managed area embracing most of the Ross Sea region.

Our policies must be wisely designed to ensure stewardship of Antarctica that is responsive to new challenges and new opportunities.

They must also demonstrate to other nations that collective responsibility under the Antarctic Treaty System is the best way of managing Antarctica in the next century for the benefit of all.

We are doing what we can to enhance the Treaty's status or, as we call it in New Zealand, its mana.

We have set particular store on developing an Antarctic dimension to many of our bilateral relationships.

Our recent Antarctic co-operation statements with France, South Africa, Chile, Argentina, Switzerland and the Netherlands enhance international science efforts in Antarctica, and support the Treaty.

We are also looking for ways of co-operating with other Southern Hemisphere gateway countries - Argentina, Australia, Chile and South Africa - with whom we co-operate already in the Valdivia Group.

Strengthening existing Antarctic relations will not be enough.

As our scientists help us to better understand the huge and wide-ranging influence of Antarctica, we realise that there are influences and problems which cross many political boundaries.

We have to encourage other nations to join the Convention and to accept the Antarctic Treaty if we want both to flourish in the 21st century.

New members will bring fresh ideas, new dynamism and greater recognition to what has been a remarkably successful example of international co-operation for nearly 40 years.

In particular we hope that more of our friends and neighbours in the Asia/Pacific region will be encouraged by our commitment to the preservation of Antarctica for peace and science to look seriously at joining the Treaty.

The perspective of tropical Asian countries would be of particular value to the work of the Treaty.

New Zealand has an important role to play as a gateway - both to the continent and on the continent.

We welcome new opportunities to work with other nations on the ice.

But we will also be working to enhance our national interaction with the Ross Sea region.

In the past two years my Government has reviewed our management of Antarctic affairs.

We established "Antarctica New Zealand" last year as our principal agency for managing our Antarctic activities and science.

It demonstrates our continuing national commitment to Antarctica.

New Zealand's interest in the Ross Dependency should not lead people to question the sincerity of our belief that the collective principle enshrined in the Treaty is the best way of protecting and preserving Antarctica through the 21st century.

New Zealand is committed to the Antarctic Treaty.

Our words and our deeds prove this commitment.

New Zealanders would not have it any other way.

Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.

1999 marks the 40th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty.

We should mark this occasion in a way that befits the Treaty and sends a signal to the world that we intend to nurture and strengthen it through the 21st century.

I hope, therefore, to be able to invite Ministers representing Consultative Parties to meet on Ross Island, Antarctica, in January or February 1999.

We shall follow up this initiative through diplomatic channels shortly.

A world statesman once described New Zealand as a dagger pointed at the heart of Antarctica.

I would describe our role differently.

Many of you visited the Nga Hau E Wha National Marae last week.

When you crossed the threshold and were welcomed into the marae you learned about the Maori people, their love for the environment, and their concern to protect Nga Tiritiri-o-te-Moana.

That is, the "white caps of the ocean", or Antarctica.

It is a custom in some Maori welcoming ceremonies for the hosts to lay down a teka, or dart.

By picking up the teka the visitor indicates he comes with peaceful intentions and goodwill towards the marae.

It is not a dagger which we point at Antarctica, but a teka which we lay before you.

Our challenge to you and to the world is: Come to Christchurch. Stand on the threshold to Antarctica.

If you come in peace, if you too cherish the environment of this immense yet fragile continent, then take up the teka.

Finally, welcome. Welcome to New Zealand, welcome to Christchurch - and welcome to Antarctica.

ENDS