Locke Keith: General Debate 
Locke Keith: General Debate 
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KEITH LOCKE (Green) 
: 
 I move  
That the House take note of miscellaneous business 
. When it was announced that the United Nations Security Council was endorsing a no-fly zone over Libya many New Zealanders were pleased. They had been cheering the rebel movement as it liberated towns held by the dictator Gaddafi. However it then seemed that Gaddafi’s counter-offensive might be successful mainly because he controlled the air and had more tanks and artillery pieces. The subsequent air strikes by French British and American planes have weakened Gaddafi’s forces but there are also fears from several Governments about where this might all be leading to. 
Five very important Governments—Germany India Brazil Russia and China—abstained during the vote on the Security Council resolution party because it gives such a very broad mandate to any Government taking military action against Libya. Although the resolution talks about a no-fly zone it also allows Governments “to take all necessary measures to protect civilians” in Libya. Basically the French and the British are taking this to mean any military action against any targets. Coalition commanders were quoted yesterday in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 as saying that this could include ground intervention if Gaddafi stays in power. Yesterday the British Prime Minister David Cameron refused to rule out assassinating Gaddafi. Our Government was wrong to endorse a UN resolution that is not really about just a no-fly zone but is actually more about regime change. It was a dishonest resolution it has divided the world community and it will not necessarily lead to a good outcome for Libya. 
On a political level the resolution has been a boon to Gaddafi. The dictator can now sidestep the issue of democracy and present the war as one against foreign invaders from the same countries that back Israel and had previously invaded other Arab countries—most recently Iraq. Gaddafi will also play up all the civilian casualties that will inevitably result from the strikes. 
Hon Steve Chadwick 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It is very difficult to hear the speaker with conversations in the House. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I appreciate the point of order raised by the honourable member. Would members please if they are having private conversations go into the lobby to have them. It is discourteous to the member speaking for members to hold conversations in the House and the noise makes it hard for other members to hear. Keith Locke I apologise. 
KEITH LOCKE 
: Politically the resolution has probably strengthened Gaddafi’s hold on the most important city Tripoli and we may be heading to a military and political stalemate in Libya. 
The problem with foreign interventions bent on regime change is that the results are unpredictable and can be very bad. As we have seen in Iraq and in Afghanistan more bloodshed followed when the United States brought about regime change and installed compliant leaders. 
There is also cynicism that the motives of the invading powers previously in relation to Iraq and to Afghanistan and now to Libya might have more to do with oil supplies than with democracy. The same Governments bombing Libya give their full backing to the Saudi regime which is arguably even more oppressive than Gaddafi’s. What criticism did we hear when Saudi troops invaded Bahrain 9 days ago to help crush the democracy movement there? We will not hear any criticism from Obama Cameron or Sarkozy as long as the oil keeps flowing from the Saudi fields. 
The Greens say yes we should stand with the democratic forces in Libya confronting the Gaddafi dictatorship. We support our Government implementing international sanctions imposed on the regime a ban on travel to New Zealand by members of the regime and the freezing of any assets held by Gaddafi and his cronies. The Greens support the suspension of education exchange programmes now operating between New Zealand and Libya. Unlike Western Governments including New Zealand’s the Greens are consistent in their support for the emerging democracy movement in many Middle-Eastern countries whether it be in Libya Tunisia Egypt Yemen Bahrain Algeria Morocco Oman Syria Iran or Saudi Arabia. 
It was interesting that when hundreds of thousands of Egyptians were out on the streets our Prime Minister and our Minister of Foreign Affairs did not endorse the call for Mubarak to go. Even moral support for regime change was not on the agenda. Instead they praised Mubarak’s statesmanship and called for restraint from the demonstrators. We will probably be waiting for a while to hear our Government give any moral support to democratic opponents of the Saudi regime. 
Step by step the people of Tunisia and Egypt are democratising their political systems. The people themselves own the process and are showing an enthusiasm for democracy that is truly inspiring. It is a better and more effective path to democracy than one brought about by planes or invading forces from Western nations.