Twyford Phil: Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill — Procedure Second Reading Third Reading 
Twyford Phil: Cluster Munitions (Prohibition) Bill — Procedure Second Reading Third Reading 
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PHIL TWYFORD (Labour) 
: 
 This is a special moment. I agree with the comments of my colleagues who have spoken before me that this is one of the rare times when peace breaks out in the House. The reason is that this legislation is unequivocally good law and it is something we can all agree on. 
This bill is the latest important development in the evolving international humanitarian law going right back to the creation of the Geneva conventions the outlawing of biological and chemical weapons and in more recent times the Ottawa treaty banning landmines and the development of the International Criminal Court. These are some of the hallmarks of the progress of our civilisation over the last century and this law which prohibits or bans cluster munitions is a useful addition to international law. So it is truly gratifying to be here in the House taking part in the passage of this law. 
The treaty will come into effect after 30 countries have ratified it. I think it has already been commented that some 28 countries have already passed the law and 24 have ratified. It may well be that New Zealand by passing this law now will be in time to become one of the first 30 countries to ratify and bring the convention to life. 
Why is this bill important? It is important because cluster munitions like landmines are indiscriminate. Their legacy as a weapon lies in the soil for years afterwards and in the last 40 years they have caused thousands and thousands of unnecessary deaths of civilians. I think it is appropriate that the genesis of this convention and this law lies with the success of the Ottawa treaty to ban landmines. In my 15 years with Oxfam one of the most gratifying experiences was the contribution that Oxfam as a non-governmental organisation made both in New Zealand and globally to the Ottawa treaty and the international campaign to ban landmines. In this Parliament in 1996 we gathered and dumped thousands of single shoes on the floor of Parliament as a symbolic protest against the indiscriminate carnage imposed on civilians all over the world by landmines. Shortly after that a group of all the leaders of opposition parties in Parliament at that time convinced the National Government of the day to become an early adopter of the Ottawa treaty and to change New Zealand’s policy and support an absolute ban on landmines. 
One of the things I wanted to say in these comments is that the success of the Ottawa treaty and the success of the international campaign to ban cluster munitions offers a model for the engagement of Governments and international organisations with civil society. It shows us the possibility for Governments to work hand in hand with non-governmental organisations and people of conscience all around the world confronting the obscene logic of military and industrial interests that for years have manufactured sold and used indiscriminate weapons like cluster munitions to the detriment of thousands and thousands of innocent civilians. 
It is important to note that New Zealand has made a special contribution in the development of the convention. Under the leadership of Phil Goff former Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control New Zealand was an early and strong backer of the convention. Norway led the process but New Zealand was one of seven countries in the core group that drove the process through a series of negotiating conferences. The New Zealand Government hosted the penultimate conference in February 2008 where 160 countries were represented. Ambassador MacKay and Phil Goff ran a very successful process although it was a difficult one. In that process New Zealand had to stare down a number of recalcitrant nations among which were some of our normally closest friends and allies that wanted to water down the text. If they had been allowed to succeed at that time we would be looking at a grossly inferior convention. I think there is a really important lesson there. Two months later in Dublin a comprehensive text was approved by the international community which saw the cluster munitions convention really come to life. 
The willingness of Governments to take risks to show courage and to show leadership on enormously powerful and important issues like this one is something that we should not lose sight of. I challenge the Government in the area of disarmament and I challenge the Minister to bring the same kind of persistence determination and courage to other issues like the international arms trade treaty on conventional weapons and the growing movement internationally that has been inspired in recent months by the election of President Obama. I challenge the Minister to confront the need to work towards a world without nuclear weapons. It will not be easy and there are enormously powerful vested interests political and military that we have to confront. But I urge the Government to show the same willingness to work with civil society and to take a tough stand and confront people in the interests of doing what is right. 
I will comment briefly on the issue of divestment. We had a very constructive non-partisan discussion in the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee and I commend the chairmanship of John Hayes. It is good to see the member back in the House today. We discussed a number of largely technical amendments to the draft bill that came to the committee. We benefited greatly as a committee from the advice from the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition and we worked through in a very productive and constructive way the submissions that that non-governmental organisation made. Two previous speakers from the Government commented on a number of those things and I will not repeat what they said. But I will comment on the issue of worldwide investments in cluster munitions because it is the area where the select committee really added value to the bill. 
The convention does not explicitly prohibit investment in cluster munitions. One could say that there is a double standard if countries are willing to sign up to the convention but are not willing to outlaw investment. I am very glad to say that members of the committee from all parties accepted the argument that our legislation should explicitly prohibit investment in cluster munitions. To date only three countries—Belgium Ireland and Luxembourg—have legislated to explicitly outlaw investment. I want to point the House to a report that came out recently by a couple of groups—Pax Christi and Netwerk Vlaanderen from the Netherlands—that did some analysis on the 138 financial institutions that have been the main financial backers of cluster munitions over the last couple of years. I want to read the names of this hall of shame. These institutions include Goldman Sachs Merrill Lynch J P Morgan Chase Deutsche Bank and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. Together they provided $2.5 billion of banking services to the eight companies that produce cluster munitions. The Bank of America Citigroup Barclays Goldman Sachs and J P Morgan Chase provided another $2 billion in loans to the producers of cluster munitions. 
I am really proud that this legislation explicitly outlaws investment in cluster munitions and in that respect I am confident that it will be one of the best pieces of legislation putting into practice the objectives of the Cluster Munition Coalition. I also acknowledge the people who have played a really important role in bringing the legislation to this point: Phil Goff the former Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control Marian Hobbs Don McKay and Mary Wareham the New Zealand coordinator of the Aotearoa New Zealand Cluster Munition Coalition who is sitting in the gallery today. She has played an extraordinary role and deserves credit too.