I know many of you will have seen the news coming out of Ukraine over the past 24 hours, so I wanted to write an update on the steps we’re taking as a Government, and what you can expect as the situation continues to unfold.
I know many of you will have seen the news coming out of Ukraine over the past 24 hours, so I wanted to write an update on the steps we’re taking as a Government, and what you can expect as the situation continues to unfold.
I know many of you will have seen the news coming out of Ukraine over the past 24 hours, so I wanted to write an update on the steps we’re taking as a Government, and what you can expect as the situation continues to unfold.
I know many of you will have seen the news coming out of Ukraine over the past 24 hours, so I wanted to write an update on the steps we’re taking as a Government, and what you can expect as the situation continues to unfold.
I’m pretty sporadic on here these days. In part, I’ve been wanting to take a bit of a breather from the public side of life. But I wanted to share a wee project I’ve been working on called Field. It’s a 12 month programme that supports and connects global political leaders who embody political leadership that draws on the strength of kindness and empathy. Field is hosted by Global Progress, and will create a network of like minded political leaders who use pragmatic idealism, speak to people with hope and optimism rather than fear or blame, and want to unite, rather than divide as we look to solve the challenges ahead. Our first cohort of leaders will meet in July and come from across Europe but this will broaden over time. Field is an incredibly humbling, and exciting project to be leading. All part of my ongoing mission to help rehumanise leadership, and just be useful! More updates to come. Needless to say, I haven’t quite managed that cup of tea and a lie down just yet…
Saturday morning ☺️❤️
The world needs to send a strong and clear message over Russia’s actions in Ukraine. New Zealand will implement a number of measures in response including:
Introduce targeted travel bans against Russian Government officials and other individuals associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in line with a number of our partners;
Prohibit the export of goods to Russian military and security forces; and
Suspend bilateral foreign ministry engagement until further notice. My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine. It didn’t have to be this way, and we have a duty to provide swift and ongoing condemnation of the actions that are putting their lives at risk.
At 6am this morning the police began an operation to clear the parliament and surrounding area of an unlawful occupation that has gone on for 22 days. I know that in planning for that operation, the police expected there would be hostility, resistance, and violence. They planned for that, because that it was what they, and wellingtonians have experienced for several weeks. And while they planned for that, it is another thing entirely to witness it. To our frontline police fire and emergency services, you have our deep admiration and thanks. You have been calm but resolute in trying to bring this occupation to a conclusion. It has come at great risk to your personal safety. Thank you for putting others before yourselves.
We have all at times felt angry during this occupation. After all, when we are in the middle of a pandemic, have 400 people hospitlisaed and 20,000 people becoming sick in just one day, its almost impossible to comprehend that people would stand opposed to efforts to slow that down, and to help care for our most vulnerable. One day, it will be our job to try and understand how a group of people could succumb to such wild and dangerous mis and disinformation. And while many of us have seen that disinformation, and dismissed it as conspiracy theory, a small portion of our society have not only believed it, they have acted on it in an extreme and violent way. That cannot stand.
We have a difficult journey in front of us to address the underlying cause of what we have seen here today. But in doing so, we will never, ever excuse it. (Continued in comments)
“What do you think, when I say the word politician” Over the years, I’ve asked that question of young people dozens of times. The answer is exactly as you would predict. But what if we could change that? What if we could change not just the expectation of traditional political leadership, but political leadership itself? I don’t expect it can be achieved overnight, but one contribution I could make was to help establish the Field Fellowship. Field is all about lifting up empathetic leadership in politics, by supporting those in the thick of day to day politics across different countries. It’s about meeting the expectation of the people we serve- focusing our time and energy on policy solutions that make a difference, that go beyond a political cycle, and that show politics can be more than ‘a bear pit’. We launched a few months ago and I was delighted to be joined by Michelle Bachelet (the former President of Chile) and Julia Gillard (The first woman PM to lead Australia) as we gathered for our inaugural event with our first cohort of fellows. I believe in this project, just as I believe that politics can be different, and that it can be better. So onwards!!
The New Zealand Parliament flying the flag of Ukraine in solidarity. 📷 @leroytaylor
Russia’s illegal, unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is a form of aggression at direct odds with the core values New Zealanders hold dear, and rely on for our own peace and security: democracy, human rights, and the international rules-based system.
This is why Aotearoa New Zealand has condemned, unequivocally, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
I’ve written to #Ukraine’s Prime Minister Shmyhal to express our resolute support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. I am joined in that stance by every New Zealand Parliamentarian, with our unanimous motion to condemn Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified bullying.
In response to Russia’s invasion, we moved to strongly condemn the aggression against Ukraine and to introduce a range of measures in response.
We have banned exports of all goods that could be used by the Russian military and suspended foreign ministry consultations with Russia. There are now travel bans in place on key individuals from Russia and Belarus involved in the invasion against Ukraine, and this list will be reviewed regularly.
We have not yet reached the extent of the measures New Zealand would take to condemn this act. We are pursuing new measures to target Russian investment, including measures to target financial institutions in New Zealand, including separate, but Russian targeted, specific legislation.
We are deeply concerned at the humanitarian consequences of Russia’s invasion. We’ve made an initial contribution of $2 million in humanitarian aid through the International Committee for the Red Cross and are actively investigating what more we might do on this front.
(Continued in comments)
There’s a special kind of homesickness I’ve been reminded of lately- one that is mixed in with pride. Watching the Olympics and seeing our athletes excel on the world stage, through their incredible skills and talent, but also their spirit and sportsmanship, reminded me all over again that there’s nowhere quite like home. ❤️ A warm and huge congratulations to everyone who represented Aotearoa in Paris so far. It was truly something else to watch. And now, good luck to our Paralympians!
I love airports. Always have. I think it’s the reunions? Or watching people excited to travel abroad or to come home. Our airports haven’t been the same these last two years. They’ve welcomed over 200,000 people home, but that’s a fraction of the activity they usually see. On the 28th of February – that changes. That’s the day we see kiwis and other eligible travellers able to come back without going through MIQ. Two weeks later those same travellers from the rest of the world can come through, and from there we keep reopening. Today I talked to staff about all the planning that’s been underway, including the welcome home packs everyone will receive complete with their Rapid Antigen Tests. The staff were ready, and really excited to see our airports start to return to what we know and love them for. Places for reunions, adventures and home comings.
I love airports. Always have. I think it’s the reunions? Or watching people excited to travel abroad or to come home. Our airports haven’t been the same these last two years. They’ve welcomed over 200,000 people home, but that’s a fraction of the activity they usually see. On the 28th of February – that changes. That’s the day we see kiwis and other eligible travellers able to come back without going through MIQ. Two weeks later those same travellers from the rest of the world can come through, and from there we keep reopening. Today I talked to staff about all the planning that’s been underway, including the welcome home packs everyone will receive complete with their Rapid Antigen Tests. The staff were ready, and really excited to see our airports start to return to what we know and love them for. Places for reunions, adventures and home comings.
I love airports. Always have. I think it’s the reunions? Or watching people excited to travel abroad or to come home. Our airports haven’t been the same these last two years. They’ve welcomed over 200,000 people home, but that’s a fraction of the activity they usually see. On the 28th of February – that changes. That’s the day we see kiwis and other eligible travellers able to come back without going through MIQ. Two weeks later those same travellers from the rest of the world can come through, and from there we keep reopening. Today I talked to staff about all the planning that’s been underway, including the welcome home packs everyone will receive complete with their Rapid Antigen Tests. The staff were ready, and really excited to see our airports start to return to what we know and love them for. Places for reunions, adventures and home comings.
Happy International Women’s Day! I am exceptionally proud to work alongside these amazing Labour MPs. They put their heart and soul into their work, determined to leave New Zealand a better place for everyone, including those who come after us. To the women who came before us – thank you. Just by being here you left a path that was a little easier to walk.
When I left the role of PM, one of the things I wanted to keep working on was the Christchurch Call to Action – a community of leaders, tech companies and civil society committed to addressing violent extremism and terrorism online. It has always been a multi stakeholder group, but the day to day running of the organisation has primarily been funded by the New Zealand Government. The NZ Government of the day continues to support the mission of the Christchurch Call, which began after our Muslim community experienced a terrorist attack on 15 March – but to be a truly multi stakeholder body the secretariat will move out of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, and instead become a separate legal entity with charitable status. I have advised the Prime Minister that it makes sense for my role to change, and at the same time the new organisation is stood up I will no longer be Special Envoy to the Prime Minister but rather Patron of the organisation as a whole. The Christchurch Call has at its core a simple mission – ensuring a free, open and secure internet without compromising human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression, while also eliminating terrorist and violent extremist content. There has been a lot achieved by the call over the last five years, including (to name just a few): (cont in comments)
And just like that, we have a six year old. I was on cake duty this year. So far, nothing has outdone the legend of Dad’s TV cake of 2021, but there’s still time 😅
When Russia invaded Ukraine, we immediately responded. We put in place travel bans, put a ban on any exports that could be used by the Russian military to support the invasion, sped up visas applications from Ukrainians, and provided humanitarian aid. But we needed to do more. Today Parliament will debate and pass legislation specifically designed for this conflict. It will mean we can move proactively to prevent individuals or entities from moving assets to New Zealand, or from using our financial system to circumvent sanctions that may be imposed elsewhere. It also gives us the ability to freeze assets that are already here. We’ll keep doing all we can to play our part, and stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 🇺🇦
On this day two years ago, I was meeting with the Prime Minister of Australia when the phone rang to tell me that we had our first confirmed case of COVID 19 in New Zealand. I remember that day for many reasons. I knew it was the beginning of a big battle – it was also my fathers birthday. Two years later and the world has fundamentally been changed by the pandemic. But in amongst all of the really tough times, I still hope the team of five million know that they made a difference. And there’s nothing like a good research paper to prove it…
Straight back into it! Kicked off the day with a phone call with the President of France, Emmanuel Macron. It was a great chance to catch up on the work around the Christchurch Call to Action. This morning there was also a beautiful service at the Wellington Cathedral of St Paul to mark the Queens Jubilee and her 70 years of service. This afternoon we also launched The Centre of Research Excellence for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism, He Whenua Taurikura – which will play a key role in bringing together research organisations, civil society, and government to research how to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism. I have no idea what time zone I’m in, but today was such a full and great day that it didn’t really matter!
Today was an opportunity to share what we think the next 6 weeks will look like, how things will be tough for a bit, but also how they’ll get better and the changes we’ll be making! I can’t quite summarise it here, so instead I’ve attached my very quick comments….
Two years ago now, we launched our lunches in schools programme. I think if you’d told me then that it would go on to deliver 62 million free lunches to more than 200,000 children and create 2,361 jobs along the way, I would have been pretty overwhelmed. But none of that compares to hearing kids tell you about it themselves. I’m proud of this programme – it’s one less thing for many of our parents to worry about. It’s making learning easier. And it’s one of the policies that has meant that over the last three years we’ve seen child poverty decrease (and on all nine measures that we use!) To everyone who has made lunches in schools such a success, thank you!!
“There is no victor in unjustified and unprovoked aggression. We must be clear. The Russian government has repeatedly ignored opportunities for diplomacy, negotiation, de-escalation, and has instead chosen aggression….
We must not let diplomacy fail. We must persevere in pursuit of an outcome that prevents further suffering. War, Mr President, must stop.” Hon Nanaia Mahuta speaks powerfully at the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of all New Zealanders.
