Fran Reviews APEC

Fran O'Sullivan has a good overview of the challenges facing John Key at this year's APEC meeting in Peru. We agree with Fran's points about the importance of this meeting for Key at this difficult time for the global financial system. The Vancouver Leaders' Meeting played a similarly important role at the start of the Asian financial crisis in 1997. We hope that Key does ensure that Treasury and maybe some business advisers are in Lima to learn as much as possible from counterparts in the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, China etc. Because of the importance of the GATT/WTO to our economic existence (if it wasn't for the WTO's rules we would be a much poorer country) we have a key interest in being at the centre of any process to reform the Bretton Woods system, of which the GATT/WTO is an important pillar. We can not rely on Kevin Rudd or any other Australian to represent our interests on this issue. Peru offers a chance to remind important players of the contribution New Zealand can and should play in this space. John Key and Tim Groser are better placed than most Leaders/Trade Ministers to play a leadership role on this topic given their backgrounds.

ILO D-G

A number of you are inetersted in this topic today so we repeat the D-G's bio. Key details in bold. We understand that there has been a roll over. It is the terms of this roll over that are interesting..................

Biography of Juan Somavia, Director-General

Juan Somavia was elected to serve as the ninth Director-General of the ILO by the Governing Body on 23 March 1998. His five-year term of office began on 4 March 1999, when he became the first representative from the Southern hemisphere to head the organization. In March 2003, Mr. Somavia was re-elected for a second five-year term.
An attorney by profession, Mr. Somavia has had a long and distinguished career in civil and international affairs. His wide experience in all areas of public life - as a diplomat and academic - and his involvement in social development, business and civil organizations have all helped shape his vision of the need to secure decent work for women and men throughout the world. The following is a list of the many positions he held in the United Nations and other inter-governmental organizations before joining the ILO:
1990-99: Permanent Representative of Chile to the United Nations in New York;
1993-94, 1998-99: President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council;
1996-97: Representative of Chile on the United Nations Security Council, including President of the Security Council in April 1996 and October 1997;
1993-95: Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen;
1991-92: Chairman of the Social Committee of the United Nations Economic and Social Council;
1990-91: Chairman of the United Nations Third Committee on Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Affairs;
1970-73: Executive Secretary of the Latin American Free Trade Association in Chile; Ambassador of Chile to the Andean Group; Member and Chairman of the Governing Body of the Andean Group;
1968-70: Ambassador and Adviser to the Foreign Minister of Chile on Economic and Social Affairs, responsible for multilateral issues including the ILO.
Since taking office in 1999, Mr. Somavia has taken up the challenge that the rapidly changing economy presents to the ILO. In 1999, he submitted his Decent Work Agenda to the International Labour Conference, which was subsequently endorsed by the Governing Body and the Conference. The work of the Office has been reorganized around four strategic objectives that make it possible to establish targets and indicators to measure progress and provide the basis of accountability.
Mr. Somavia began his career as an academic. From 1967-68, he was lecturer on economic and social issues for GATT's trade policy courses in Geneva. In 1971, he was appointed Professor of International Economic and Social Affairs in the Department of Political Sciences at the Catholic University of Chile, where he highlighted the ILO and its tripartite structure as a case study in international cooperation. Between 1976 and 1990, he was Founder, Executive Director and President of the Latin American Institute of Transnational Studies (ILET), during which time he undertook a number of studies on trade union and social movements in Mexico City and Santiago. From 1996-99, Mr. Somavia was Chairman of the Board of the United Nations Research for Social Development (UNRISD). Throughout his career, he has written and lectured widely on trade issues and labour and human rights and holds numerous citations and awards for his work in the areas of peace, human rights and social development.
Mr. Somavia has always shown a strong interest in development cooperation and economic and social affairs. During the late 1960s, while working in GATT, he promoted the participation of developing countries in the Kennedy Round. From 1970-73, Mr. Somavia served as Member and Chairman of the Board of the Andean Development Corporation in Caracas and worked intensively in favour of regional integration. He was also a Member of the Executive Committee of the International Foundation for Development Alternatives in Nyon, Switzerland from 1977-95 and has been on the Advisory Committee of Development Dialogue (published by the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation) for more than 25 years.
Mr. Somavia participated actively in the restoration of democracy in Chile. Not only was he President of the International Commission of the Democratic Coalition in Chile but also founder and Secretary-General of the South American Peace Commission (1986-90). For his contribution to peace and human rights, he was awarded the "Leonides Proano Peace Prize" by the Latin American Human Rights Association.
Mr. Somavia has been involved in business, financial and civil society organizations for many years. As Executive Secretary of the Chilean-Argentinian Chamber of Commerce he strengthened ties between the business communities in both countries. From 1976-82, Mr. Somavia was Coordinator of the Third World Forum, a network of African, Asian, Latin American and Caribbean social actors. He was also a member of the Board and Vice President for Latin America of the Third World News Agency, Interpress Service (1976-82) based in Rome. Together with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Nobel Prize winner, Mr. Somavia represented Latin America as a Member of the MacBride Commission on International Communications (1980-82). Finally, he has served as Chairman of the United Nations Committee of Paliamentarians for Global Action.
Born on 21 April 1941, Mr. Somavia's early schooling took place in Chile, the Netherlands, Belgium, the United States and Ecuador. In 1958, he returned to his country to read law at the Catholic University of Chile. After graduating in 1962, he continued higher studies in economic development at the School of Law and Economics at the University of Paris. Mr. Somavia was made Laurea Honoris Causa in political sciences by the University of Turin in November 2001 and awarded a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne in May 2003.
Mr. Somavia is married to Adriana Santa Cruz and they have two children.

Why We Think Helen Clark Should Be Made Ambassador To Washington (or UN)

• She will do an excellent job;
• She will enjoy it;
• She will be a star performer on the Washington Diplomatic circuit;
• She will do a much better job at forging links with an Obama Administration than would Don Brash;
• We disagree with those (you know who you are) who say her hubby will be a liability. We are not sure he would want to go, but if he did he would be able to further his academic research in the US in a way that would be both useful for him and New Zealand. He will be fine at cocktail parties and Diplomatic dinners (those questioning his abilities at yesterday's BBQ have not seen him in action - we have);
• If Helen's long term plan is to find a position with an international organisation, then she will be better placed in Washington to pursue these opportunities than from the back benches of the New Zealand Parliament. Of course New York would be even better in this regard. Has there been an announcement on Rosemary Bank's replacement? Rosemary is talking about a departure reasonably early next year which would be a good fit............

In summary, this appointment would be good for Helen, good for new Zealand and good for the world.

Helen Does The Honourable Thing

Not only did she concede but she fell on her sword. There will be a new leader by Christmas.

This is going to be a period of major change for Labour - a leadership contest, and generational shift. And for the first time in ages, we think will be seeing some by elections. Mt Albert and Rongotai would be our picks. Those who missed out on seats but who just missed out on the list - eg Judith could well find there way back into Parliament quite fast - should they want to be there. We can't see Cullen hanging around, and others might want to go also.

The PM has done the right thing for Labour. A contest will be difficult, but a series of plots to unseat Clark would have been even worse.

Radical idea from The Hive to John Key. There are no obvious jobs for Helen in the UN system at present. Why not do a Bolger? Helen would be a wonderful Ambassador in Washington as Obama takes over there. While it might be tempting to send Brash there instead, wouldn't it be better to ask Don to serve in some other way? His skill set is rare and directly relevant to the response to the financial crisis. We would ask him to hang around in New Zealand for a while.

Goff v. Cunliffe. Game on. This is going to be fun to watch.

Well Done New Zealand

We needed a clean result.

Good luck National and ACT.

This is going to be a very tough 3 years.

Lets hope we can move to a true consensus on the response to the financial crisis and climate change. If it can work for foreign and trade policy why not other areas.

US Considering Trade Minister Visits With Taiwan

This is more good news. These visits on Trade issues should be no trouble under the various understandings reached with China when countries such as the US and New Zealand recognised the PRC. But these visits became less frequent, or were suspended in recent years because of the dreadful relations between Taiwan and China during Chen Shui-bian's rule. We hope that New Zealand resumes such visits as well. Taiwan is one of our top 10 markets.

Ever since the KMT came to power in May, one of the primary goals of the Ma administration has been to mend the Taiwan-US relations, which had deteriorated over the past years because of former President Chen Shui-bian’s capricious and provocative cross-Strait policies.

Now, the US government has shown its willingness to strengthen ties with Taiwan, though economically. It is reported that the US government has sent a message to President Ma Ying-jeou through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) stating that it wanted to restore the mutual visits of ministerial-level economic/trade officials between the two countries.

Yesterday, President Ma Ying-jeou convened a meeting to discuss the matter with top officials from the National Security Council, the Council of Agriculture, the Department of Health, and the Ministry of Economic Affairs.Taiwan and the US signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in 1994, the purpose of which was to solve trade problems and strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries. The ministerial-level economic/trade officials had often visited each other’s countries before. However, such visits gradually came to a near halt during Chen Shui-bian’s eight-year rule.

“During the KMT rule, the US ministerial-level economic/trade officials paid visits to Taiwan many times. However, the Taiwan-US ties came to a standstill after the DPP came to power. In the last few years, the top economic/trade official to visit Taiwan was Kara Bhatia, then Deputy US Trade Representative,” said a senior Taiwan diplomat.

What Do We Know About This Man?

We should know more because this is the person who analysts believe is running North korea following Kim Jong Il's stroke.

There is a good story just up on The Times site

The nuclear armed dictatorship of North Korea is being governed by the brother-in-law of the country’s leader, Kim Jong Il, who succumbed to serious ill health three months ago, South Korean experts have concluded.

Government officials and academic North Korea watchers have received intelligence suggesting that Chang Sung Taek, a 62-year old who runs the totalitarian state’s secret police, is making key decisions while the “Dear Leader” convalesces.

They believe that Mr Kim is conscious and probably capable of walking, but that he remains weak after what appears to have been a sudden stroke suffered in the middle of August.
Despite the fact that Mr Kim has not formally named anyone to succeed him to the leadership of North Korea and its million-strong, nuclear-equipped army, the Government appears to be functioning normally for the time being with no obvious signs of instability.

“Chang Sung Taek is now in control and is leading North Korea,” said Choi Jin Wook, of the government-affiliated Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul. “Other important figures consulted him, even when Kim Jong Il was OK. He will keep Kim Jong Il’s policy line even if he dies.”

Apart from his family connection to Mr Kim, Mr Chang is a cosmopolitan among North Korean cadres whose career bounced back from the brink of disaster just two years ago.
According to South Korea’s ministry of unification, he was educated at an elite school in Pyongyang, and married Mr Kim’s younger sister, Kim Kyong Hui, after studying in Moscow for three years.

He rose through the hierarchy to become head of the most powerful bureau of the Korean Workers’ Party’s, the “organisation and guidance department”. His older brother was the army general responsible for the defence of the capital itself.

In 2002, two years after a historic summit meeting between North and South, he led a delegation of senior officials on an unprecedented tour of South Korean industrial sites.
The most senior North Korean defector to the South, the former chief ideologue, Hwang Jang Yop, spoke of him as a potential successor to Mr Kim after a coup, and said that he was especially close to Kim Jong Nam, the dictator’s eldest son.

Perhaps because of his growing influence, Mr Chang was abruptly purged in 2004, and sent into internal exile. He reappeared in 2006 and last year a new and powerful post was created for him: head of the Party’s “administrative department”, in charge of the courts, the prosecutors, and the police – including those responsible for internal spying.

Update

The Running Mule have just sent us their post on what is going on in the DPRK

Well Done Senator Obama

You ran a great campaign.

You have given your nation and many in the world hope.

They want change. We hope you can deliver on their expectations.

Please don't look inward. Keep the international trade flowing. Finalise and ratify the KORUS deal. Begin negotiations on Trans Pac. And lets get the WTO Round finished.

We are sure that whoever wins New Zealand's election will be keen to help you achieve the change and leadership the world needs at this time of crisis.

Slowdown Threatening China's Stability?

A disturbing article in the Financial Times


Slowdown threatens stability, says China PM
By Geoff Dyer in Beijing and David Pilling in Hong Kong
Published: November 3 2008 18:55 Last updated: November 3 2008 18:55
Wen Jiabao, China’s prime minister, warned that high growth was needed to maintain social stability as fresh evidence emerged on Monday that China’s economy was slowing quickly.
In an article in a Communist party magazine, Mr Wen said 2008 was “the most difficult year in recent years” and maintaining high growth was the priority.
“We must be crystal-clear that without a certain pace of economic growth, there will be difficulties with employment, fiscal revenues and social development . . . and factors damaging social stability will grow,” he wrote in the magazine, Seeking Truth.
Slowdown fears in China were exacerbated by two surveys of the manufacturing sector which both showed a sharp decline. The China purchasing managers’ index compiled by the brokerage CLSA fell from 47.7 points to 45.2 points in October – the steepest monthly fall and the lowest point since the index was started in 2004. Meanwhile, a government-backed survey of manufacturers dropped 6.6 points to 44.6 in October, also a record fall.
The Chinese figures came as Manmohan Singh, India’s prime minister, said New Delhi was ready to boost public spending and cut interest rates to sustain economic growth. In Seoul, South Korea unveiled an $11bn stimulus package – the second package in less than three weeks.
The Chinese figures came after an official at the central bank indicated that government quotas on new bank lending had been abandoned.
Stephen Roach, chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia, said the flurry of recent announcements could indicate that Chinese authorities knew growth had already dipped below 8 per cent.

Australia-New Zealand Relations Drifting Further Apart

There is a very disturbing article in Trans Tasman today. It suggests a failure in our foreign policy vis a vis our major trading partner and closest ally. You should subscribe and read the full article but we disagree with the suggested cause. It has nothing to do with a lack of a High Commissioner. It is all to do with Kevin Rudd, described today by a contact as Sarkozy on steroids....

Here is the first para of the TT story

Senior Ministers are becoming increasingly concerned at the drift between Canberra and Wellington over major policy as the Rudd Govt charts its own course without bothering to consult. This has already been most evident in coordination over the response to the global economic crisis.

Major Change Ahead For MFAT And NZTE

National's foreign affairs and trade policy has just been released

Enhancing ties and promoting free-trade agreements with Pacific and Asian nations are features of National's Foreign Affairs and Trade policies announced today.

To view National's Trade policy go to: http://national.org.nz/files/2008/trade_policy.pdf

Foreign Affairs spokesman Murray McCully says New Zealand should chart its own course in international affairs and that National will continue to move to embrace bipartisanship in foreign policy.

"The Foreign Affairs and Trade policies strongly reflect the content of the discussion documents released last year, which received widespread support.

"A country of our size can't operate with different agencies in their own silos around the world, and that's why National will require agencies such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade, NZ Trade & Enterprise, and Tourism NZ to co-operate to adopt a 'NZ Inc' approach in international markets.

"While also building on key bilateral relationships, such as those with Australia, we also need to further strengthen our relationship with the US, increase the level of discussions with our neighbours in the South Pacific, and build on relationships with Asian countries.

"This policy commits National to increasing the focus of our growing aid budget on the Pacific, where New Zealand has its greatest responsibilities and can make the greatest difference."

Mr McCully says there needs to be a strengthening of the oversight of terrorist groups and their money-laundering activities, which Labour has ignored. National will also: • Ensure that the nuclear-free legislation remains in place. • Put a high priority on liberalising trade with the US through the P4. • Review NZ's network of overseas posts to ensure there is a focus on key countries and key markets. • Maintain current and future aid spending levels laid out in Budget 2008. • Ensure that terrorist groups and their financing operations are properly identified and designated.

Boosting New Zealand's export performance lies at the heart of National's trade policy, says Trade spokesman Tim Groser.

"There is unmistakable evidence, country by country and company by company, that higher rates of productivity are associated with higher rates of exports, and that's what New Zealand needs right now.

"The next National Government will set aspirational goals.

"We will look to increase the ratio of exports to GDP from 30% - one of the lowest in the OECD – to 40%.

"We will do this by making the progression of multilateral negotiations through the World Trade Organisation our top trade priority, ensuring that we are actively involved in bilaterial and regional free-trade negotiations, and that government agencies work overseas hand-in-glove on putting support of exporters first.

"National also recognises that the really big drivers of our export performance are domestic policy instruments, and that if we have inadequate infrastructure, a shortage of skills, and rising compliance costs then we will not be able to lift our export game."

National will also: • Require NZTE to adopt far less bureaucratic procedures to grant-making, and put more emphasis on 'offshore' activities and less on 'onshore' activities. • Contract out more of the grant-making to local business associations/agencies. • Focus on exporter education programmes.

To view National's Foreign Affairs policy go to: http://national.org.nz/files/2008/foreign_affairs_policy.pdf To view National's Trade policy go to: http://national.org.nz/files/2008/trade_policy.pdf

Everyone Misses The Point On ODA

It is not the dollar value that should be important. More important is the quality of what we deliver. We hope the next Government will review our aid programme to ensure that recipients are getting a high quality delivery from New Zealand.

New Zealand Won In Tonight's Debate

Wasn't it good to hear Labour, National, ACT, United Future, and Jim Anderton essentially saying the same thing on tonight's radio debate?

But isn't it frightening to hear the rubbish being spoken by Keith Locke and the Greens? Why has Labour made the mistake of creating the AXIS link with the Greens and NZ First??

NZ's Place In The World

Radio NZ's election debate on Sunday should be a good one. A great opportunity for Phil Goff to show off his leadership skills in advance of the post election caucus vote.

Many Hive readers will be interested in the topic - our place in the world.

In many ways this is going to be a leadership debate. Phil Goff has yet to become leader, but that is splitting hairs. Other party leaders participating are United Future - Peter Dunne, ACT - Rodney Hide, Progressive - Jim Anderton and from NZ First - Winston Peters.

The Trotskyite wing of the Green Party is being represented by Keith Locke (expect Winston to raise Afghanisatn and Cambodia - as he should).

Tim Groser is representing National. Poor fellow is well outnumbered by the Axis representatives. Fortunately he knows 10 times more about the subject than the rest of them combined.

The debate is live and on air (Radio NZ National) from 5pm on Sunday. There is a panel discussion after the debate at 6.30pm. We understand that Fran O'Sullivan is going to be one of the expert panelists.

Guest Opinion: Why an American free trade deal is a great and important idea

Stephen Jacobi - Executive Director of the NZ-US Council has e-mailed us in an opinion piece which he is happy to have published under his own name. As we agree with every word we are happy to oblige. Thanks Stephen for contributing this and keep up the good work you are doing on the relationships with the US, Japan and Korea. Anyone else wanting their opinions published should feel free to submit these to us. If we agree we will happily ensure that these views are published. The Hive is read daily (Monday to Friday) by close to 2,000 0f New Zealand's most influential politicians, business leaders, and opinion formers. It is also read by the Wellington based diplomatic corps and internationally by a number of foreign ministries, intelligence agencies, and international media operations - so don't just confine your opinions to New Zealand's borders....




Why an American free trade deal is a great and important idea

By Stephen Jacobi, Executive Director, NZ US Council

Amongst the varied responses to the United States decision to join New Zealand in the Trans Pacific trade agreement the silliest must have been this piece by Bernard Hickey http://www.stuff.co.nz/blogs/showmethemoney/2008/09/23/why-an-american-free-trade-deal-is-a-ludicrous-and-dangerous-idea/. It was not widely known until now that Bernard does not like Americans – a “hypocritical, lying bunch of cheats” he calls them, scarcely better than Europeans and Japanese. Oh to live in a world like Bernard where you only have to do deals with people you like ! Beyond the playground name-calling the more serious part of his thesis is that Americans cannot be trusted to negotiate with us freedom loving Kiwis (tell that to the Canadians who wanted to buy an airport …). There are nasty lobbyists in Washington who will see it as “a chance to make money by blocking our dairy, beef and sheep exports”. It may not have occurred to Bernard that it is precisely to constrain the activities of protectionist lobbies that we need an FTA. And here’s some real evidence - when President Bush decided to apply safeguard tariffs on steel a few years back America’s FTA partners were exempted. Of course the dairy industry will do its best to block an FTA but, Bernard, that’s just further evidence of why we need it !

Bernard says an FTA will also threaten Pharmac and New Zealand’s intellectual property regime. It’s true that the Americans will raise those issues – yep, they are such a dastardly bunch that they publish on the Internet what their main gripes are with New Zealand (see http://www.ustr.gov/assets/Document_Library/Reports_Publications/2007/2007_NTE_Report/asset_upload_file424_10966.pdf) ! Bernard forgets that what we have agreed to do at this point is negotiate. Each of us has interests to advance and others to protect. Trade negotiations are the ultimate art of the possible. If the outcome is not beneficial for New Zealand’s interests then the deal will not be done. And, who knows, some improvements to Pharmac’s operating model, which are already under consideration by the Government, may be enough to address the Americans’ concerns.

The reason trade negotiations never get off the ground is that sectoral interests try to hold them hostage to certain outcomes – like the dairy lobby in America, and Bernard in New Zealand. We need to get beyond this sort of thinking if progress is to be made for New Zealand exporters who face an uneven playing field in the US market when compared to Australian or Chilean exporters. Bernard doesn’t like the Australian deal but the fact is it has already given them four years advantage over New Zealand. This includes the beef sector where the small in quota tariff for beef has been removed but continues to apply to New Zealand costing us around $13 million annually.

Bernard does not mention the role of Trans Pac in promoting broader trade liberalisation in the Asia Pacific region. With the WTO faltering and other APEC models lacking substance at this point, Trans Pac is the only game in town for those who see freer and fairer trade as a means of addressing both economic uncertainty and escalating food shortages. That’s another reason why free trade with the United States, in the context of Trans Pac, is a great and important idea !

Where Is Inspector Clouseau When You Need Him?

It has been a bad couple of days for Sarko. First he has been dismayed at the behavior of the IMF head. And now he finds that his bank account has been hacked. This from The Times

As we have seen, President Sarkozy has been winning praise in France for what is seen as his masterful handling of the banking crisis. But his promise to guarantee the deposits of his citizens, has not extended to his own current account.
The Elysée palace has confirmed with a little embarrassment that internet thieves have gained access to Sarko's account at his branch at Neuilly, his suburban home, and helped themselves.
There have been a series of debits of minor amounts -- in keeping with the phishing technique in which the crooks sneak out sums under about 200 euros in the hope of escaping detection. Sarko noticed the mysterious debits while going through his monthly statement. That must have been about the same time that he was arranging to pump billions into the banks on behalf of the tax-payer.
The authors of the swindle may not have realised whom they were dealing with and they may now wish that they had chosen a less distinguished target. "The swindlers will be punished," Luc Chatel, the secretary of state for consumer affairs, said as the fraud police put their finest sleuths onto the case. Once they nail the offenders, the Presidents' men may go after the bank -- which has not been identified -- and bring charges of misuse of personal data. Sarko, Mr Zero Tolerance in matters of law-and-order, cannot have taken lightly to being phished.
Chatel said the pilfering of Sarko's account showed that more needed to be done to tighten internet banking security. Fraud has risen by 9% this year. "This proves that the system of checking via the internet isn't infallible," he said.
France is suffering from about the same level of internet fraud as other European countries. In the field of payment cards that are used physically, it has had more security than most places because it introduced chips with PIN numbers in the early 1990s. Britain only did that with its credit cards a couple of years ago. About four years ago, someone stole my wallet with three credit cards when they picked my pocket. They did not manage to take anything off the French PIN-protected card but they spent several thousand euros on the two US-based cards within half an hour of the theft (all was immediately refunded by courteous Amex and Citibank customer service).
They were making fun of Sarko's hacking on the radio this morning. Nicolas Canteloup, who does a great daily impersonation of the President on Europe 1, did Sarkozy discovering that a certain "DSK" had debited his account to buy sex toys at an outlet in the Place Pigalle (DSK are the initails of the IMF boss).

Our Future Is Being Compromised By A Minister Still Holding A Warrant

As Colin James reminded us all earlier in the week, the consequences of this financial crisis is about more than money. These consequences include a substantial re-alignment of global power away from the US and Europe to Asia, specifically to Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea - the economies where people save.

So reading stories like this in today's NZ Herald make us really angry. And again we are angry with Helen Clark for allowing this person to maintain a Ministerial salary, staff and transport privileges while he damages our reputation as an Asian friendly nation by overt racism.

All Australia's Fault

There is a very interesting column at the back of the Friday Business Herald by someone called The Insider.

We found this very interesting:

"For once, New Zealand's lack of name recognition in China may be a blessing. Fonterra and Foreign Affairs officials report that while some of those in the San Lu/Fonterra poison milk scandal have paid with their lives, New Zealand's reputation remains largely intact. Bizarrely, somehow the gossip in China is that it is all Australia's fault".

Indeed, how bizarre, but then again maybe the gossips have been reading the Mortimer Report

This is the report commissioned by the Rudd Government from John Edwards and David Mortimer on Australia's export policies and programs.

Read this recommendation - the bolding is ours


Pursue a program for opening
global markets that is focused on
maximising prospective commercial
gains, neutralising preferential
access gained by competitors,
achieving access outcomes within
a reasonable timeframe and
attracting stakeholder support.

NZ US Military Ties Get Closer

Interesting article in the Dominion Post today confirming the steady closening of military ties with the United States

After decades of cold-shoulder treatment, United States military brass are now saying a US-New Zealand military partnership is vital to meet security challenges in the Pacific region.
Joint military exercises are on offer again, according to US Air Force commander Lieutenant General Loyd S Utterback, who was in Wellington last month for a conference hosted by air force chief Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott.
Since 1987 the US has blocked New Zealand forces from taking part in routine joint exercises. The only exceptions were preparations for war-zone deployments and, till recently, presidential waivers were required for anything else.
In a statement published on the US Air Force website, General Utterback said a partnership between the US and New Zealand militaries was vital. Being able to plan, share data and operate together could only make the US and New Zealand militaries better.
General Utterback, commander of air, space and information operations in the Pacific area, said: "We simply cannot afford to meet at a disaster site landing zone for the first time and realise that your aircraft can't get fuel from my pump or that we don'thave a common understanding of airspace control."
His visit comes just two months after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared New Zealand an ally - the first time that word had been used since the mid-1980s, when New Zealand barred the entry of nuclear powered or armed ships.
The thaw was underlined this month when New Zealand sent 172 troops to Germany for combat training with US, British, Canadian and Australian troops.

Foreign Warship In Wellington Harbour

Maybe the media is all over this, but if it is, we have missed the reporting. A frigate belonging to a foreign power snuck into Wellington Harbour last night and is currently hiding behind Somes Island.

If we are not mistaken this is it, the Argentine Naval Training Ship Fragata Libertad.