New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister Recounts Longstanding US-NZ Relationship In The Pacific
Leading a cross-party delegation of New Zealand parliamentarians on an engagement visit to Honolulu, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters highlighted the country’s commitment to the Pacific and the enduring nature of New Zealand’s relationship with the United States in public remarks at the East-West Center on April 12, ahead of a private dialogue with East-West Center leadership and staff.
“New Zealand’s commitment to the Pacific is foundational to who we are as a people,” Deputy Prime Minister Peters said. “It transcends governments, political parties, and the disruptive events and controversies of the moment.”
Shared history and partnership in the Pacific
Highlighting Honolulu and Auckland’s unique geography as “the northern and southern points of the so-called Polynesian triangle,” Peters touted the history of the longstanding partnership in the Pacific between the United States and New Zealand, or Aotearoa.
He discussed the delegation’s visit to the USS Missouri, where the Pacific part of World War II formally came to an end, as “a reminder of the history of shared sacrifice that forever binds New Zealanders, Americans, and people from throughout the Pacific.”
“Our peoples have fought, and died, together in defense of a free, open, and democratic region. A region in which our people are free to elect their own political leaders and to worship the god of their choice. And a region, the Pacific, that lives up to the promise of that name,” Peters said. Referencing World War II, he noted that “dark, painful” chapter of history provided “the backdrop to the efforts we have collectively made, in the eight decades since, to painstakingly build an international order based on dialogue, compromise, diplomacy, and trust.”
