NZ politican Shane Jones outlines new Pacific ambassador role

Transcript

The New Zealand politician Shane Jones says he would bring wide experience and passion to a new ambassador level role focusing on Pacific fisheries.

The senior opposition MP says he's still hammering out the details of the job after yesterday's surprise announcement he is quitting parliament and considering working under the Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

He told Sally Round his chairing of the Maori Fisheries Commission and the company Sealord before entering parliament puts him in a good position to add value to the role.

SHANE JONES:I've always felt that New Zealand could play a bigger role in extracting greater value out of the fisheries resource of the Pacific. I bring not only parliamentary experience but my business experience and whilst the details haven't been hammered out I am confident that I will be able to add value to the role of our country in the Pacific.

SALLY ROUND: Regional organisations, for instance the Parties to the Nauru Agreement, are getting good returns for their member countries from fishing. What more of a role is there for NZ?

SJ: I went a few years ago to Kiribati and it was evident to me that one thing we have got to be always mindful of is that it's not just the flow of revenue but it is ensuring that we provide good opportunities to train people and provide where necessary access to capital so that there's both a local benefit and a national revenue benefit in the Pacific to do with fisheries. New Zealand's influence in the fisheries in terms of the Pacific has subsided as the number of vessels has dropped but look, as the details are hammered out I am sure we will find ways to be more constructive.

SR: Mr McCully mentioned that one of the roles would be also in terms of leadership ahead of the small island developing states meeting in Apia. What more of a role can NZ play there?

SJ: Well we have always got to be optimistic - never overlook the fact that we ourselves are a small nation state in the ranks of global nations. We are about four and a half million people and I think back to the time when I was the immigration minister - I always went out of my way to pay particular attention to any case or any policy that moved us closer to the Pacific and showed that our optimism is not only about rhetoric but [we] want to work constructively with the interests of the Pacific. So I think always when you look at these kinds of roles and even in my time as a parliamentarian - always start with the spirit of optimism as opposed to feeling that because we ourselves are a relatively small nation state that there is not much that we can do. I've always been very proud of our credentials and I think Helen Clark taught all of us as cabinet ministers that Aotearoa is a place where you can punch above your weight.

SR: Yet those small island countries they develop their own block precisely because they want to set their own direction and there has been increasing criticisms of the likes of NZ and Australia in sort of pushing their own agendas.

SJ: Well, like I said, the details of the role haven't been hammered out etcetera and I don't think that anyone's got an agenda to wander around sort of being overbearing or anything like that. There is more that NZ can do but obviously you don't do it unless you can find appropriate partners.

SR: Getting back to fisheries, how will you balance the NZ/China relationship with increasing calls from Pacific Island countries for more control over the likes of say Chinese fishing in the Pacific?

SJ: Well, let's just taihoa and wait and see how the role is fully fleshed out.

SR: Have you got any personal ideas about how you would like to make sure that resources are returned to Pacific Island peoples, as Murray McCully pointed out?

SJ: Well, as I said, we are going to hammer through the details and look all I will say is in the event that we can finialise this role i think that all  fair-minded commentators will see that I bring a breadth of experience and yeah a degree of passion for such a role.