After a period of New Zealand’s focus elsewhere under Jacinda Ardern’s leadership, then border closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Southeast Asia was beginning to ask New Zealand: ‘Where are you?’
The Asean group of nations will no doubt be glad of Luxon’s answer.
The level of intensity the Prime Minister was bringing to the area of foreign affairs – with a key focus on Australia and Asia – was deliberate.
“You want to make sure New Zealand never, ever, loses influence,” he told Newsroom.
“We want to be at the table; we have a lot to offer the world. We stand up for some great values … We never want to be brushed off or not relevant.” […]
In all three countries, he committed to upgrading existing agreements within the next two years. A timeline that’s had foreign affairs officials taking a deep breath.
In the case of the Philippines, there were separate promises to deepen defence ties and increase interoperability for military training and humanitarian purposes. And in Thailand, came a commitment to triple trade in the next 20 years.
“I wanted to blow the cobwebs off and get our system to understand we’re going to go out in the world and be very externally oriented,” Luxon said.
Now – as a Prime Minister focused on outcomes – he needed to see these promises through.
Asia New Zealand Foundation chief executive Suzannah Jessep said political leaders in the past had made ambitious promises; he wasn’t the first. But not all of them backed up their rhetoric with a solid strategy and systems changes.
Newsroom
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