Winston Peters, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Minister for Racing and Minister for Rail of New Zealand, observed that it has never “been more apparent just how much political leadership is required to respond to the international challenges we face”.  Meanwhile, the international order continues along its “malignant path” as it shifts from rules-based to power-based.  This is particularly troubling and costly for his country — a small State — which has, for the past 80 years, depended on a functioning multilateral system. Therefore, the United Nations’ reforms efforts must be bold and match the scale of its structural, fiscal and geopolitical challenges.

Spotlighting the conflicts in Sudan, Syria, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where millions of people in each country have been displaced and require urgent humanitarian aid, he noted that the numbers which are mind-numbing make a statement that “in too many places our shared humanity is held in contempt, or worse”.  On the war in Gaza — “the edge of a horrible abyss” — while New Zealand strongly condemns the 7 October 2023 attacks and believes Hamas has no place in a future Palestinian State, Israel’s response has been “grossly disproportionate”.  And recognizing a Palestinian State is, for his country, a matter “uniquely complicated given it is embedded in a seemingly intractable, never-ending conflict situation”, he said.

Noting that Palestinian statehood recognition will at present be “open to political manipulation by both Hamas and Israel”, he pointed out his country’s dilemma in that regard:  the former will portray such recognition as victory while the latter will view it as a reward.  “We are not ready to make that gesture,” he said, adding:  “Rather, the New Zealand Government believes that it has one opportunity to recognize Palestinian statehood, and it would make better sense to do so when conditions offer greater prospects for peace and negotiation than at present.”