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  Note: All transcripts are copyright to Front Page Ltd but may be used PROVIDED attribution is made to TVONE and Agenda
Condoleezza Rice surprised observers yesterday with her reference to New Zealand being an ally, a status that was removed in 1985 after we refused to admit US warships to our ports unless America told us whether they were nuclear armed. Then the Reagan administration suspended our membership of ANZUS but last night at a big reception in Auckland Dr Rice was effusive in her praise for us. Here's an edited version of that speech. CONDOLEEZZA RICE – US Secretary of State New Zealand has been an active partner in promoting security and peaceful aspirations of nations, the support of New Zealand for the six party framework to try and denuclearise the Korean peninsula has been really extraordinary and I was saying earlier that when the North Koreans exploded a nuclear device in 2006 one of the first calls that I made was to Winston Peters who immediately was there to support us and to work toward the Security Council resolution that we passed and then he went to Pyongyang in 2007 to press the case for denuclearisation and continues to do so as he's just done at the Asian Regional Forum, and so New Zealand's friendship and support in this very important endeavour has been very much appreciated. I want to thank New Zealand too for its leadership in the Pacific Island Forum. The Pacific Island Forum has had important work to do, the Solomon Islands was a place of crisis just a short time ago but it is a place that is improving and I look forward to meeting with the leaders of the Pacific Island Forum. There is especially hard work to do concerning Fiji where the return to democracy is an absolute necessity, where free peoples everywhere are speaking out for the importance of elections in Fiji and that those elections should not be based on any other conditions but the ability to hold an election, something that the government of Fiji has promised to do and has promised to do next year and should do forthright. I've had a chance to take to Winston and to the Prime Minister about the very good work that you're doing on the front lines of freedom in Afghanistan and so let me just close with a few words about that, because we all know that once in a while you need a little help, we all needed help at times in our history to throw off tyranny, to throw off fear, and the Afghan people now need that help. This is a terribly poor country, it's a country really with not much going for it in the terms of resources but it's a country that’s got spirited people, people who after 30 years of war and difficulty are still determined to build a better future, and therefore to have the people of New Zealand completely devoted to that cause, to a fine provincial reconstruction team that is operating in Bamian province is just more sound evidence of how well we work together when we defend at freedom's frontiers. The First Lady was recently with the Kiwi provincial reconstruction team in Bamian and she came back filled with praise for what you're doing there and it is extraordinary what you're doing there, it's been a model of success, it's one of those models that we're actually trying to extend with best practices so that others can see it. So whether it's your support for regional and international security, trade and environment, whether it's a chance to show off a little bit of the talent of New Zealand with the wonderful choir that just performed for us, or as I said for New Zealand's dressmakers to show off their talent, or for your wonderful traditions of your indigenous people to show their talents, this is a great place, it's demonstrating that it's a place that believes in tolerance, it's a place that believes in human dignity and human rights, it's demonstrating it's a nation that while small in size is great in vision and event bigger in spirit, it's a place where peace and democratic values are flourishing and it's a place that hasn’t been content to just have peace and democratic values for itself but is insistent that those values should be for all human beings and that New Zealand like the United States will not rest until peace prosperity and democracy are common across our humanity. RAWDON Peace, prosperity and humanity. Well that was Condoleezza Rice at the New Zealand United States Business Council reception last night, but what did happen in her talks with Helen Clark and Winston Peters. Well US Embassy Charge d' Affaires David Keegan is live with Guyon now. GUYON Well Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that New Zealand and the United States were both friends and allies, now this raised some eyebrows because it's not a status that we've heard since the breakup of ANZUS and New Zealand's ban on the nuclear powered ships. Are we now allies? DAVID KEEGAN – US Charge d' Affaires GUYON Sure there are lot of things that we have done but she would not have used that word carelessly or casually would she? DAVID And I don’t think she would have used it two and a half years ago, I think it's a real reflection of the depth of the relationship and she used the word and I think she used it carefully and I think she used it because it reflects the intensity of cooperation that we have and this is not accidental cooperation, we are sitting together looking at the world around us saying what can we do to make things better. GUYON And does that new intimacy if you like, does that bring with it security obligations on both sides. We used to have this security guarantee where one would come to the other's aid, does that new level of strength in the relationship have those obligations carried with it? DAVID Obligations is an interesting word, I think we're talking so much together and sharing so many things together that we are cooperating because it's in our interests and so I think there is a natural process by which we are cooperating and so that’s what I think is driving it, it's that natural confluence of interests and as the Secretary said of values. GUYON One of the strongest manifestations of the lack of an ally status has been the cessation of formal military training between the two countries, is it not now absurd that two countries which fight alongside each other can't formally train together? DAVID I think what we're seeing over the past year and will continue to see is our military and your military is looking at where we can have value added by working together. As we do more working together whether it's in Afghanistan or in the Pacific, whether it's having your medics on our ships in the Pacific, we are naturally finding more ways to exercise together, to train together so that we can cooperate successfully. GUYON You heard John Key there, the National Party Leader who may well be Prime Minister if the polls are right say that the anti nuclear law was no longer an impediment in the relationship. Now is that your belief? DAVID The nuclear issues is what it is, okay, he used the term which we've used a couple of occasions it's the rock in the road. Okay, we've driven past the rock in the road and we're focusing on what's in front of us in a number of different issues that we all care about and that we can help resolve together and that’s what we're focused on, not that rock in the road. GUYON Condoleezza Rice heads with Winston Peters to Samoa to speak with Pacific leaders, what role if any can the United States play in resolving one of the biggest issues in that region and that is the restoration of democracy in Fiji? DAVID Well when they meet on Saturday in Samoa in a couple of hours they’ll be meeting with the foreign ministers of the Pacific Island Forum countries, one of those foreign ministers will be from Fiji and I think that Foreign Minister will hear a clear message not only from Condoleezza Rice our Secretary of State but from the other Foreign Ministers and Leaders of the Pacific that they need to move to democracy and need to move soon. GUYON Just before I leave it and we broaden this discussion out can I just ask you what the chances are from the US side in terms of a Free Trade Agreement, do you think this is something that talks are going to be able to start on in the next year or so? DAVID Well we've actually already started a large variety of talks and the Prime Minister mentioned during the press availability yesterday that we are talking about the P4 Agreement and about two chapters in that, and I think if that goes well you'll see those talks broaden out and potentially leading toward discussions on a Free Trade Agreement, so we're already in the process of having conversations that could lead in that direction. GUYON Fascinating, well look I'll let the panel and others broaden this out and so back to you Rawdon. RAWDON The panel and others will be the panel and me. Fran. FRAN I'd like to ask you David, you talked earlier about the Pacific and the moves that New Zealand together with the US is now making there, how much of that choreography that is going on is a result of the need to support New Zealand and Australia and how much of it is actually geopolitical to head off China's influence? DAVID I think it's really looking at the Pacific and its needs, I don’t think that we should look at this in a solely China focus. What's going on is these countries with very small governments have an enormous range of challenges, whether it's sustainable energy, protecting their fisheries, or fighting off drug dealers, and so we're looking with New Zealand and Australia to work to strengthen their capabilities. If China is coming into the region we welcome that provided they do it in a transparent manner and that they join with the others like Australia and New Zealand to figure out where their value added is. BARRY There's nothing inherently bad with China though is there, I guess they do have a big cheque book but they have as much right to be in the Pacific as the United States does. DAVID China is a growing economy, it can bring a lot of benefits to the Pacific and the Pacific Islands and it's just a question of how they go about doing it and so we're opening conversations with them, Australia and New Zealand are opening conversations with them to figure out the most constructive way to build on those strengths. RAWDON And some of our journalists are going on nice trips to China. BARRY I just thought there's one point on the Free Trade Agreement that I'd like to pick you up on. The Secretary yesterday on two occasions at both news conferences talked about impediments, what was she meaning by impediments, other than the rock in the road if you like? DAVID I think that was referring back to the rock in the road, quite frankly impediments are hard to find in our relationship. BARRY She did though talk about them being sorted out that if they need to be sorted out then they will be sorted out, what does she mean by that? DAVID It took us 20 years or more to get to where we are now, to work to an arrangement whereby we understand what the nuclear issue is, and we understand what the other areas that we can work in successfully together are, and so as we work together more we find more areas to work to succeed in, we figure out what the limitations are and we go forward. RAWDON It's taken us 20 years you say, yet you see Condoleezza Rice just refer to Winston Peters as Winston, how imperative does the US see him in the rebuilding of this relationship? DAVID I think we have to acknowledge that Winston Peters has been a major constructive force as Foreign Minister of New Zealand, but he's been carrying out the foreign policy of New Zealand in this government and I think tremendous credit goes to this government Winston Peters, Helen Clark, who have moved forward on this and I think there are some people in the US side, I would single out Chris Hill our Assistant Secretary who have also played a constructive role in realising that we need to develop a policy that looks to the future and not the past. RAWDON Can I quickly ask you whether the government has been asked to provide more New Zealand troops to Afghanistan by the US? DAVID I think at this point what we are pleased with is what New Zealand is doing right now, New Zealand has said it wants to continue doing that and we welcome that statement. RAWDON New Zealand hasn’t been asked to provide more troops then? DAVID We are right now celebrating what New Zealand is doing, its Bamian Province PRT is remarkably successfully and if they can continue that success as the Secretary said yesterday that’s gonna provide a model for lots of others. RAWDON No more troops needed then? DAVID That’s where we are. FRAN If I can come back to the New Zealand bilateral FTA proposal, if these talks in Geneva on the World Trade Organisation don’t make any headway this week and there's another surge to bilateralism do you think at that stage the United States will put New Zealand on the free trade negotiating queue? DAVID The free trade negotiating queue as you refer to it depends a lot on what happens with a new administration in Washington. FRAN What would State Department's recommendation be? DAVID I don’t think there are many places where we find ourselves in closer alignment on economic issues and on political issues than New Zealand, and I think that’s been evident, that’s why we joined into this P4 negotiation was particularly to move that forward. BARRY You talked in your interview with Guyon about cooperating because it's in the United States interests what do you mean by that? DAVID A lot of the things New Zealand is doing in the Pacific with China and Asia and Afghanistan are things that advance their interests and ours and our common values. RAWDON David Keegan thank you very much for joining us this morning, appreciated. DAVID My pleasure.
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