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NEW ZEALAND - BILATERAL VISIT TO AUCKLAND & WELLINGTON REPORT SUMMARY 9 -14 APRIL 2018 PROGRAMME OVERVIEW A bilateral programme saw a UK in terms of preserving the delegation comprised of four Members natural landscape for future of the House of Commons and two generations, and to ensure Members of the House of Lords engage that the unique agricultural with parliamentary colleagues, business, conditions are maintained. and civil society to discuss issues and • Parliamentary practice, challenges relevant to the UK and particularly with a focus New Zealand. Key topics of discussion on proxy voting, newly included: implemented in New Zealand IMPACT & OUTCOMES and the focus of discussion in • The state of international the UK. Impact. relations, particularly the • Trade relationships between To build knowledge and understanding current geopolitical relations the two countries, and the of shared national and regional issues between Russia and the UK and different forms a post-Brexit through exchanges with parliamentary its allies. trade relationship might take. colleagues, and further develop the good • The above discussions were relationship between the UK Parliament made more pertinent by The bilateral element of the delegation and the Parliament of New Zealand. developments in the Syrian was followed by the Pacific Islands conflict that unfolded during Parliamentary Workshop which Outcomes. the visit. provided an opportunity to engage with parliamentarians from ten Pacific Island Through a programme of meetings, • Domestic policy, including a focus on immigration, both in countries on areas of mutual interest. briefings, plenary sessions and interactive the UK and in NZ. This has been covered in a separate discussions, the programme will deliver • Environmental concerns, both report. the following outcomes: Outcome 1. Foster a strong relationship between the UK Parliament and Parliament of New Zealand, and share challenges and solutions in parliamentary management, practice and procedure. Outcome 2. Discuss issues of mutual interest, including: a. The current political situation in the UK and New Zealand, and the approach to coalition and minority government; b. The impact of Brexit on UK-New Zealand relations; c. The oversight of trade policy in New The UK delegation and the Pacific Island Workshop delegates Zealand and the status of the Trans- Pacific Partnership; d. The trade and investment relationship; SUPPORTED BY: e. Defence and security cooperation focusing on national security and intelligence sharing; f. The role of the Commonwealth; g. New Zealand’s foreign policy and regional relations; h. Domestic policy areas including environmental policy, disaster COMMONWEALTH PARLIAMENTARY ASSOCIATION UK - CPA UK resilience, and immigration policy. Westminster Hall, Houses of Parliament, London SW1A 0AA @CPA_UK T: +44 (0)20 7219 5373 E: [email protected] www.uk-cpa.org Registered Charity No.1095118 | Registered Company No. 4606846 NEW ZEALAND - BILATERAL VISIT TO AUCKLAND & WELLINGTON FULL REPORT 9 - 14 APRIL 2018 CPA UK & New Zealand CPA UK and CPA New Zealand have a long history of facilitating successful parliamentary bilateral delegations on behalf of their respective legislatures. Recent activities between the two legislatures have included a bilateral delegation to Auckland and Wellington exploring the future of the NZ/UK relationship including the potential for future trade The delegation meet with members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association New Zealand Branch agreements and how these might be scrutinised by In April a delegation of UK Members and Peers neighbouring countries. parliament. The delegation travelled to New Zealand to explore a variety of also discussed with their thematic and technical areas of parliamentary Discussions were also held around the ongoing counterparts a range of business. This visit was coordinated in partnership conflict in Syria, which was dominating news issues including defence and with CPA NZ, who organised a range of meetings headlines during the visit. Disappointment was security; environmental and with Members and officials in a variety of thematic expressed regarding the failure of the UN to domestic policy; parliamentary areas of interest indicated by the UK delegation. make significant steps in resolving the conflict, procedure; and the role of the Trade was a key area of discussion in almost but emphasis was given to the importance of the Commonwealth. all meetings. Subsequently a separate report UN’s legal processes and international rule of exploring these discussions has been produced, law. In turn this led to discussion of Russia’s role The delegation also took part and attached as an annex to this report. in the Syrian conflict, and its wider machinations, in a Pacific Islands workshop Summaries of other topics of discussion are laid including the recent expulsion of diplomats with their counterparts from Pacific Island legislatures. This out below. across the globe following the poisoning of Yulia two-day workshop focused on and Sergei Skripal. The delegation discussed both technical and thematic PACIFIC ISLANDS & INTERNATIONAL New Zealand’s support for the UK in this matter, areas of interest and enabled a RELATIONS and the benefits of the Five Eyes intelligence frank discussion of some of the In meetings with academics, ministers, officials, sharing. The ongoing conflict in West Papua challenges facing the Pacific and Members the delegation discussed the was also brought up in discussions, focusing on Island States. This workshop current geopolitical relationships in the the recent referendum to which it was argued also allowed the UK delegation Pacific, including the relative influence of NZ, that the international community has turned a to understand in more detail Australia, China, and the UK, and the trend blind eye. the geopolitical nuances of the of increasing Chinese influence in the region. region. These discussions touched on the complexity AGRICULTURE AND ENVIRONMENT of regional issues including immigration, As a significant sector of New Zealand’s economy, New Zealand will continue to education, fisheries, and the varied political and given the expertise of the delegation, be a key partner, especially systems which govern each island. These meetings meetings were held to discuss the respective in the post-Brexit landscape, also prepared the delegation for the second agricultural markets of both countries. as the UK seeks to renew half of the visit, the Pacific Island Parliamentary A significant point of discussion was the its relationships with its Workshop, where the UK delegation discussed importance of strict regulations in maintaining Commonwealth colleagues. parliamentary challenges with counterparts from an environment free from contamination. NZ Members discussed how imported diseases and genetic material travel freely in the EU was also cited as a benefit of using the UK was an economic threat, and government officials take extreme as a base. Brexit has diminished the standing of the UK in this steps to ensure any outbreak is rapidly dealt with. It was suggested regard. Members also emphasised how stories in the national that regulations ensuring the maintenance of optimal agricultural press commenting on the difficulty of travelling to the UK was conditions were one of the reasons NZ products were so highly damaging the reputation of the UK in the public sphere. The ‘tens regarded, which in turn had to led to great demand in overseas of thousands’ immigration target was described as a ‘blunt markets, particularly China. The significance of theBrexit vote on instrument’, and it was discussed that easing of these restrictions the UK’s environmental protections was also discussed, and was likely to be a factor in trade negotiations. how the UK might learn from NZ in maintaining a high standard of agricultural produce.China’s poor environmental protections PARLIAMENTARY PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE was suggested as a contributing factor to the demand for Meetings held with parliamentary officials and the Electoral agricultural produce. Commission provided an insight into the subtleties of the differing systems and procedures. There was particularly lively The focus on protecting the environment was a big domestic debate around the benefits and drawbacks of proxy voting, focus. Members from the Environment Committee were holding recently adopted in NZ. The UK’s own Procedure Committee was an evidence session on single-use plastics1, and went on to undertaking an inquiry into the possibility of proxy voting in the emphasise the significance of the natural environment to the House of Commons, and hence this experience was of particular national economy, both in terms of agriculture, but also tourism. interest2. Legislation strengthening NZ’s commitment to the environment was expected by the Committee, and Members highlighted how The presentation given by the Electoral Commissioner was also over 80% of NZ’s domestic energy was sourced from renewable well received. Points of discussion focused on the compulsory sources, and how transport that utilised renewable sources registration in NZ, and the novel methods utilised by the was a focus for the new government. electoral commission to increase voter engagement. This meeting also enabled an exploration of the Mixed Member IMMIGRATION Proportional (MMP) system utilised in NZ, and the effect of After trade, immigration was one of the most commonly having both constituency and proportional representation.

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