Donald Rod: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Donald Rod: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19565] 
10.  
ROD DONALD (Co-Leader—Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
: Will he reconsider New Zealand’s support of Paul Wolfowitz for the presidency of the World Bank following statements by the bank’s former chief economist Joseph Stiglitz that “The World Bank will once again become a hate figure. This could bring street protests and violence across the developing world.”; if not why not? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
: 
 No. The member’s question has been overtaken by events. Last week Mr Wolfowitz was elected president of the World Bank unanimously by the board of the bank. 
Rod Donald 
: Does the Minister agree with Joseph Stiglitz that this appointment will lead to the bank becoming “an explicit instrument of US foreign policy” and why did New Zealand support this appointment when Mr Wolfowitz’s role as chief architect of the Iraq invasion his attacks on New Zealand’s antinuclear stance and his support of Indonesia’s undemocratic former President Suharto clearly show that he has a habit of deliberately opposing or undermining New Zealand’s foreign policy? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: No I do not agree with the statement by Joseph Stiglitz. I will explain to the member exactly how the election takes place and then he will understand New Zealand’s vote. New Zealand is currently an executive director of the World Bank. As such it represents a constituency of 13 different countries. Our requirement is to consult with each of those countries and find the consensus. The consensus was very clearly to support Mr Wolfowitz. 
Tim Barnett 
: Is it the tradition that the United States nominates the president of the World Bank and was its nomination in this case supported by the major contributing donor countries? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: Yes it is the tradition that as the major donor the United States nominates the president of the World Bank. Its nomination was supported by all the major contributing countries to the World Bank—the United Kingdom France Germany and Japan—and supported unanimously by all the executive directors. There were of course no other contending candidates. 
Rod Donald 
: Is the Minister concerned that Paul Wolfowitz’s official biography on the US Department of Defense website fails to refer to development poverty AIDS debt or economic policy and is he confident that a man whose major development project to date is the invasion of Iraq—a man who has absolutely no banking experience outside of using an automatic teller machine—has the right skills experience and vision to lead the World Bank? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I think it is fair to say that Paul Wolfowitz has academic public service and management experience that he can bring to this position that should be very helpful. I also point out that one of the most acclaimed authors on the World Bank—in fact under Mr Wolfensohn—has endorsed the Wolfowitz nomination saying that Mr Wolfowitz is pragmatic on economics and passionate about democratisation in developing countries. I think it would be fair for the member to judge Mr Wolfowitz on his performance rather than on what he believes Mr Wolfowitz may or may not do. 
Rod Donald 
: Does the Minister therefore believe that Paul Wolfowitz will be a good leader for the World Bank because of his deep concern for those living in poverty or is it Mr Wolfowitz’s experience in helping US companies to grab Iraq’s oil profits that has left him well qualified to dole out lucrative World Bank contracts to those US businesses? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The policy of the World Bank which is a vitally important organisation in terms of addressing the problems of poverty in the world is not determined by one individual; it is determined by a board of governors. The World Bank has a board of directors it has a mission statement and it has a tradition. That bank has performed extraordinarily well in recent years and I have no reason to believe that it will cease to do so now. 
Hon Dr Michael Cullen 
: Did I hear the Minister correctly when he said that Germany with a Green Foreign Minister voted for Mr Wolfowitz? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The answer to that is yes. The Green Minister in Germany supported that nomination as did every other country in the European Union which of course represents the countries often most like-minded to New Zealand in international affairs. 
Rod Donald 
: Can the Minister confirm that countries like France and Germany expressed concerns about that appointment up until they got a call from George Bush and can he also enlighten the House as to whether the New Zealand Government took any account of the concerns of the World Bank Staff Association which declared in no uncertain terms that it thought Paul Wolfowitz was an unsuitable appointment? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: It would be deeply insulting to the major countries of the European Union to say that their minds were made up for them by another country. Those countries have established a track record in recent years of making up their own minds on various issues often in contradiction to the United States.