Mapp Wayne: Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mapp Wayne: Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 28 July 2009. Volume:656;Page:5184. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Hon Dr WAYNE MAPP (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 As Minister of Defence I specifically asked to speak in this debate. I acknowledge today that the Leader of the Opposition Mr Goff in his former role as Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control and also as Minister of Defence was as we heard in his speech fully and passionately committed to the effort by New Zealand to lead in the banning of cluster munitions. 
It is important that Parliament on behalf of the people of New Zealand reinforces not just for our own country but much more important for other countries the need to reduce the terrible effects of war. This is a moral issue and it has impelled New Zealanders across the political spectrum and most important amongst non-governmental institutions in particular the Cluster Munitions Coalition. They lobbied individual members of Parliament intensely and ensured that when this issue came to Parliament all parties were part of it. I recall full well the negotiations that were held in Wellington at that time under the leadership of Mr Goff. New Zealand took a leading role in this issue which conformed to the position we had taken previously on the landmines convention as well. As has been noted by both the Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control and Mr Goff the Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill follows directly from those negotiations. 
As was also noted the use of cluster munitions in Lebanon in 2006 primarily by Israel was the spur for action. More than 1 million sub-munitions were used. Many of those were used in areas occupied by civilians and it has taken years and years to clear them. Even now fewer than half have been actually cleared: 195000 have been cleared to date in one-third of the area. Even today civilians continue to be killed and maimed by those munitions and those civilians particularly include children. They are amongst the principal victims of those munitions. As with the Ottawa Convention that fact compels an urgency of action by us. 
I note that as Mr Goff acknowledged the New Zealand Defence Force was deployed for 12 months during 2007 when he was Minister of Defence. In fact he answered a question in Parliament on this deployment. The New Zealand Defence Force which is highly trained in this area cleared 1800 sub-munitions. I should also say that this treaty was negotiated in such a way that it tried to embrace the concerns and interests of the States that have cluster munitions. It is worth noting that parties that sign up to it will want to put pressure on States that use and have stockpiles of cluster munitions to sign up to it; their concerns are specifically addressed within the convention. I for one certainly hope that the United States will be able to see its way clear to accede in due course to the convention. 
It is hardly worth stating that the 20th century perhaps more than any other was beset by war that affected civilians most particularly in the latter half of the century. Much of that damage was caused by landmines and cluster munitions that were specifically aimed at people whether they were in uniform or were civilians. Because of the persistent effects of both landmines and cluster munitions civilians become a particular target—not necessarily because people intend that to be the outcome but because of the nature of the weapons themselves. The weapons remain in the place of conflict long after the conflict has ended. Many parts of the world decades and decades after the conflict has ceased still have live minefields. There are still cluster munitions in southern Lebanon and it will take decades to clear them. The objective in the convention to clear all of those cluster munitions in 10 years can perhaps be achieved but I suspect it is something of an aspirational goal. It will take a great deal of effort to achieve it. 
I specifically acknowledge the members of the New Zealand Defence Force who make clearing munitions their profession. We can hardly imagine a more dangerous thing to do than to clear cluster munitions or landmines. People put themselves at literally daily risk. New Zealanders have been deployed for two decades now to clear out munitions which are the after-effects of war. In the Balkans Kosovo and Afghanistan in the 1990s and in relation to landmines in Lebanon in the 1980s this has been an enduring commitment. The New Zealand Defence Force has made it part of its kaupapa to build its skills in this area. In a contemporary era when people are looking to defence forces to assist civil society this is greatly valued. 
I want to speak on that point in particular. The modern ethos of the New Zealand Defence Force is to assist States in trouble. There is much less inter-State conflict and there are many more States in internal turmoil. Of course some of that internal turmoil can then spill over to the rest of the world. We only have to look at the effects of al-Qaeda basing itself in Afghanistan to understand that. It is worth noting that eight New Zealanders have been killed in terrorist incidents that had their direct origins in al-Qaeda. Three New Zealanders were killed on September 11 three in Bali one in London and now most recently one in Jakarta. Each occasion was directly sourced to al-Qaeda. That is why New Zealanders are engaged in assisting those troubled countries: because it is in our interests to do so. 
I think New Zealanders across this House have expectations that the New Zealand Defence Force will undertake this kind of work. Our Defence Force has gone through enormous training in the understanding of failed States their peoples the populations and their cultures in order to be able to play our part in doing this work. One particular facet of that training is our expertise in de-mining. The convention makes provisions to ensure that our skills are maintained in that area but that they are maintained ultimately to assist other peoples so they can build their societies and live life as we would wish to live ours. Thank you.