WELLINGTON (Pacific Scoop / Pacific Media Watch): Economic trade, sustainable fishing and a more responsive approach to the West Papua conflict were issues raised by New Zealand delegates at a recent Pacific forum.
Finance Minister and acting Prime Minister Bill English told the Pacific Parliamentary and Political Leaders Forum in Wellington last month that New Zealand shared and understood the Pacific's vulnerable economic position.
“We have a better understanding of the challenges that you are grappling with leaders in your economies than almost any other country, and there’s no point in us feeling like we’re doing well if the six million people in our sort of near part of the Pacific aren’t doing well," he told delegates.
Former Fisheries Commission member and shadow fisheries spokesperson Shane Jones told the forum that protecting the regional fishing stock from foreign exploitation by Chinese vessels was essential to protecting the cultural heritage of Māori and other Pasifika cultures.
“When we let foreign investors come in and exploit our resource, ensure it works to the benefit of your children and the economy. If not, you’ll be living on tinned fish in the future," he said.
Green MP Catherine Delahunty, an outspoken supporter of West Papua independence, told the forum that the worst health and life outcomes in the Pacific were experienced by West Papuans in Indonesia's Papua and West Papua states.
The Pacific Parliamentary and Politics Forum was on 18-22 April 2013.
Michael Sergel
