The Foreign Minister has taken another crack at the Prime Minister’s political experience, after Christopher Luxon said remaining in the Paris climate agreement would be a bottom line in coalition negotiations.
Winston Peters, who is also the leader of New Zealand First – a party campaigning on leaving the Paris Agreement, said Luxon’s position demonstrated that “experience does matter in politics”.
It comes as Pacific nations discuss a commitment to remain in the agreement, which an international relations expert said was a “commendable goal”.
New Zealand First and ACT, National’s current coalition partners, have both indicated they do not support the commitment as it stands.
Luxon was asked on Morning Report on Monday whether it was a non-negotiable for National in coalition talks with those parties that New Zealand remains in the agreement.
Luxon confirmed it was, because it was “common sense”.
“We need to stay in the Paris Agreement because it only makes New Zealand poorer if we come out of it.”
National leader Christopher Luxon.
RNZ / Nick Monro
Peters, who is currently in Palau for the Pacific Islands Forum meeting where climate change is high on the agenda, was asked about the comments on Monday evening.
Asked if Luxon’s bottom line was a wise or unwise position, Peters said “the only comment you can make about that is that it’s a demonstration that experience does matter in politics”.
Asked if Peters would make it a negotiable issue after the election, Peters said he was “quite astonished” at “comments being made here” and bottom lines “laid out there”.
His disappointment was directed at those who did not “have the experience which is required under the MMP environment”.
His judgment was also directed at the “mainstream media” who still considered the country in a first past the post environment, “We are most certainly not.”
Just last week, Peters took a crack at Luxon following National’s decision to announce legislation banning social media for under-16s, despite not having the backing of its coalition partners.
“It’s a lack of understanding of how the system works, but then again we did say that he hasn’t been around here long,” Peters said.
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
RNZ / Baz Macdonald
On Monday, Peters said the problem with the Paris Agreement for the Pacific nations – who were heavily committed to its target of limiting the global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels – was that four countries were responsible for the majority of emissions, naming China, Russia, the United States and India.
Part of the commitment was also to pursue efforts to limit the increase even further to 1.5°C.
“This is our problem we’ve got here. Can we possibly actually honour the Paris Accord in any meaningful way, while that is going on?” said Peters.
He acknowledged it was “very difficult” to say in Palau because it “doesn’t suit the conversation”.
“But we’ll have to face reality about what the sign-up of Paris was, particularly since New Zealand’s position was secured in this context that food supply would be exempt.”
International relations expert Professor Alexander Gillespie told RNZ Palau was seeking a climate declaration that was in two parts.
First that the countries in the Pacific needed to remain committed to the Paris Agreement, and the to 1.5°C target.
Professor Alexander Gillespie.
Wayne Mead
“That is a commendable goal,” said Gillespie.
“You want the Pacific countries to be leading this challenge, because in terms of risk, they are at the forefront of the risk.”
Gillespie said the difficulty was that some countries, like the US, are no longer members of the United Nation’s Framework Convention on Climate change, let alone the actual Paris Agreement.
“So some countries have completely walked away from climate change, whereas others have really weakened their efforts to try to confront it, like New Zealand.
“So, on one level, you want the commitment to confront climate change, and that is disappearing rapidly,” Gillespie said, while on the other hand, money is needed for adaptation.
He said around $3 billion was needed annually for the Pacific to adapt to climate change, and “even with the best scenarios, you’re maybe getting $1 billion of that coming through, or just under it at the moment”.
The Foreign Minister will continue to meet with other Pacific leaders, before Luxon heads to Palau on Wednesday.
