Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Dunne Peter: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:617;Page:13230] 
11.  
Hon PETER DUNNE (Leader—United Future) 
 to the  
Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
: What is the attitude of the New Zealand Government to the harassment of its citizens by foreign Governments? 
Hon PHIL GOFF (Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade) 
: 
 Where an allegation is made of harassment of a New Zealand citizen by another Government or in another country my ministry would investigate that. If found to have substance a protest would be lodged an explanation sought and a request issued for the situation to be remedied. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Minister consider it acceptable that a Mr Zhang of the Chinese Embassy here in Wellington should have contacted my office angrily last week abusing me in my absence for my attendance at the inauguration of President Chen of Taiwan; if he does not consider that acceptable and in the light of his earlier answer will he summon the Chinese Ambassador and tell him that such interventions in the domestic affairs of New Zealanders and the rights of New Zealanders to travel are totally unacceptable in a free and democratic society—something that will be completely foreign to the ambassador? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: If an incident of the nature outlined by the member took place it would be out of order for the embassy of any other country to try to direct a member of this Parliament to do something other than what that member wanted to do. 
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: What action has the New Zealand Government taken in relation to the harassment of TV3 reporter Jeff Hampton who was barred from entering Fiji on Sunday? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I have publicly indicated my concern that a New Zealand reporter should be blacklisted for simply doing his job. I have raised that personally with the Fijian High Commissioner to New Zealand. I have also asked for that matter to be taken up with the Government of Fiji and have asked whether it can be reconsidered. We have also suggested to Mr Hampton that he might like to make another application to see whether his visa would be issued on a subsequent occasion. 
Rod Donald 
: What does the failure of the United States authorities to advise the New Zealand Government that they were holding and interrogating a New Zealand citizen for 3 months say about how the United States treats its “very very good friends”—especially ones that are willing to lend it frigates Orions engineers and the SAS? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: At my request the ministry over the last 3 months has been following up the matter of the disappearance of Andreas Schafer. Indeed we have approached the foreign offices in London and Washington on no fewer than six occasions. Mr Schafer has now been released and as I understand it is in Amman in Jordan. We are following up with Mr Schafer to get more details of what his situation actually was and we have asked Washington for an explanation of why he was detained the circumstances that surrounded that detention and why it was that although we made so many approaches he was not able to be located. I suspect that it reflects the chaos that exists and the lack of rule of law in Iraq at the present time but I want to be certain that everything was done to locate one of our citizens who was missing and I want to know the reason why those actions did not have a follow-up from the authorities in the United States. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Minister’s earlier answer to my supplementary question mean he will take up directly with the Chinese Ambassador the case I referred to as I requested? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: I am more than happy on the member’s behalf to suggest that it is quite inappropriate for any member of this House to be told what to do or how to do it. That is a decision for an elected representative of this House not for the embassy of an overseas country. 
Luamanuvao Winnie Laban 
: Besides making such approaches to foreign Governments what can the Government do to intervene on behalf of New Zealand citizens who have been harassed or detained overseas? 
Hon PHIL GOFF 
: In general terms New Zealanders overseas are subject to the laws of the country they are travelling or residing in and we cannot interfere with other countries’ processes of law. What we can do however is extend consular assistance by interceding to ensure that the treatment of a New Zealander is fair and equitable given the nature of what a person resident in that country would expect from that Government.