NZ and overseas aid

Dear Sir, In his story on New Zealand politics in January’s Pacific Islands Monthly, your correspondent, Atama Raganivatu, has quite misrepresented the new coalition government’s policy on overseas aid. The relevant sections are as follows and I believe your readers have every reason to be gratified by the commitments and sup port for the South Pacific evident in them.

“Reinforce the special obligations New Zealand has to assist the small independent Pacific Island states, particularly with eco

nomic, trade, training and development aid programmes, obligations that have evolved through a long history of immigration and cultural linkages.”

“Continual increase in NZ ODA com mitments (currently at 0.24 per cent of GDP), the greater proportion to be directed to the South Pacific (as above). The cost of the delivery of health services to citizens of countries which are the recipients of ODA which creates outstanding debts in the CHEs shall be met from funds withheld during ODA bilateral negotiations.”

May I say that I think the article is also confusing opinion with fact in asserting that “most” members of New Zealand’s Pacific Island community would have pre ferred to see a government featuring the Labour Party.

Don McKinnon,

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington, New Zealand • I rang Mr McKinnon’s office the day after the coalition agreement was announced and spoke to a senior public servant there. He informed me that the pre vious National Party government’s Overseas Aid commitments would remain in place, with a slight (undefined) increase in the percentage being allocated to Pacific Island states. I duly included this informa tion in my January, 1997 article and McKinnon has confirmed it in his letter.

The only misrepresentation I can detect is that, due to either a slip of the tongue by the public servant or me having misheard him, I reported the new government’s Overseas Aid commitments to be 2.4 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, whereas it transpires the true figure is 0.24 per cent.

I must, therefore, concede that the New Zealand government’s commitment to aid is one-tenth of what I had initially stated.

However, it is pleasing that McKinnon has further outlined New Zealand’s policy - something space restrictions prevented me from doing. Nor should there be any doubt that the Kiwis’ commitment and sup port for our region is generally highly

appreciated.

Only through New Zealand’s Pacific Island community being allocated their own exclusive constituency, like the five Maori seats (which, of course, is not a seri

ous option) would one be able to prove beyond all doubt that the majority of them support the Labour Party. However, voting patterns in the existing constituencies which include large numbers of Pacific Island people provide overwhelming evi dence that my opinion in respect of this are one and the same.

Atama Raganivatu,

Oamaru, New Zealand