Brooke van Velden
ACT’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson

Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta and Finance Minister Grant Robertson seem to be on completely different pages when it comes to the remit of Five Eyes.

Nanaia Mahuta has explicitly said she was “uncomfortable expanding the remit of the Five Eyes.” And yet today Stuff has revealed that Grant Robertson used a Five Eyes meeting to discuss trade.

Why is the Government comfortable to expand the Five Eyes remit to trade discussions but not to issuing multilateral statements condemning human rights abuses? Did Robertson discuss his plan to talk trade with Mahuta before the meeting?

This is breath taking hypocrisy from the Government. Is this why Mahuta chose not to join a statement condemning actions of China, despite being asked to?

Nanaia Mahuta and Grant Robertson owe us an explanation. What is the remit of Five Eyes and why can it extend to discussing trade but not genocide?

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