Gallagher Martin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Gallagher Martin: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:607;Page:4276] 
4.  
MARTIN GALLAGHER (NZ Labour—Hamilton West) 
 to the  
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
: What if any emergency assistance will New Zealand make available to alleviate the human consequences of war in Iraq? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
: 
 New Zealand has today committed $3.3 million in emergency humanitarian relief through United Nations agencies and other relief organisations to address the human cost of a war with Iraq. The United Nations has warned that without immediate assistance from the international community thousands of lives will be lost not simply through war but through its consequences in preventing civilian access to food clean water sanitation shelter and medical assistance. Our initial commitment is aimed at addressing those concerns. 
Martin Gallagher 
: How specifically has that money been allocated? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: As indicated the key needs of Iraqi people will be emergency shelter food and medical care in an environment where according to the United Nations hundreds of thousands of people may be displaced and infrastructure and services are likely to be destroyed. To help meet those needs New Zealand will be providing $1 million to the World Food Programme immediately and half a million dollars each to the Red Cross the United Nations Commission for Refugees and the United Nations Children’s Fund. The balance of the initial funding will go to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs the UN agency for demining and to selected non-government agencies operating within Iraq. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: Why has the New Zealand Government not considered providing the Army’s field hospital which is trained for deployment and which did superb work in East Timor to the “coalition of the willing” so they can now provide that essential humanitarian assistance? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: The Government has considered that and it is a possibility at a later date. The first assistance that we will be giving will be emergency relief assistance. That is best provided by agencies already operating in and around Iraq that have a proven track record at delivering that assistance. Other forms of assistance will be considered subsequently by the Government. 
Hon Richard Prebble 
: Can the Minister explain to the House why it is acceptable for the New Zealand Government to offer assistance to the people of Iraq after the war but it is not acceptable to offer assistance to those same citizens to be liberated from a dictator who has killed 3 million people; and why is it not acceptable to join the 45 countries that are providing military logistic or public support to the US-led effort to enforce UN Resolution 1441? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: We will be providing the assistance that I have outlined because the immediate consequence of the war will be that innocent people who cannot be held responsible for the excesses of the Saddam regime will suffer the consequences of such a war. Given the nature of the Saddam regime this Government has been active in providing refuge in New Zealand to people from Iraq who have tried to escape that regime. Of course the member is aware that there are many countries around the world with unacceptable human rights records. I am not aware that the world is going to war with all of those countries. 
Keith Locke 
: Does the Minister expect that some of the human consequences referred to could be the result of the explicit targeting of the civilian infrastructure he just referred to such as power stations or broadcasting facilities; if so what is the Government doing to caution the United States against such targeting? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: It is my understanding of the intentions of the countries that may be in conflict with Iraq that they will try to do minimum damage to key infrastructure but clearly no matter how smart weapons are they are not smart enough to stop human casualties and the subsequent cost of casualties. The United Nations estimate is that 600000 to 1.4 million people may be made refugees and another 2 million on a medium-level scenario of the war would be internally displaced. Clearly that will involve huge human costs. We and we hope the Americans and others involved will be trying to minimise those costs.