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Launch of Parliamentary Handbook on Disarmament for Security & Sustainable Development - virtual event 

I want to begin by acknowledging the work of the ASEAN-New Zealand Business Council, as well as the particular role you have played Kenneth, during your time as ANZBC Chair.

Thank you for this opportunity to be with you virtually today. The India New Zealand Business Council has put together an excellent event.

I’d like to start with a thank you to the AI Forum Executive for getting this event off the ground and for all their work and support to date.

APEC trade ministers today committed to speeding up the cross-border flow of vaccines and related goods to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thank you for joining me here this evening for what is part of an ongoing conversation about New Zealand’s work on disarmament, and how that intersects with New Zealand’s broader approach to peace and security, and to our foreign policy.

Thank you Council President Mr Chandar Sen for the introduction, and thank you, members of the executive committee, for the opportunity to be here with you today.

It is such a pleasure to be here in Dunedin, and to have this chance to talk with you about key issues within my disarmament and arms control portfolio.

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Selamat sejahtara 

I am so pleased to be able to join you for part of this workshop, which I’m confident will help us along the path to developing New Zealand’s national policy on the issue of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.

I’m thrilled to be standing here as a dedicated Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, which I hope reinforces for you all – and for our friends and partners offshore – how serious this Government is about pursuing New Zealand’s objectives in this portfolio.

It is a great pleasure to be here this afternoon to celebrate such an historic occasion - the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Pacific nations  came together yesterday under the auspices of the Treaty of Rarotonga to ramp up diplomatic efforts for nuclear disarmament.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Nanaia Mahuta, and Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control, Hon Phil Twyford, today announced the appointment of Lucy Duncan to a key New Zealand disarmament position.

The Minister of State for Trade and Export Growth, Phil Twyford, welcomed the entry into force today of the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus).