Reti Shane: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeReti Shane: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 28 July 2015. Volume:707;Page:5390. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Dr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei): It is a pleasure to speak about the estimates and appropriations hearing. The estimates hearing was on 25 June. With the knowledge that New Zealand would be taking the United Nations Security Council chair on 1 July the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs about New Zealand’s role in the Middle East peace process. We heard several things. We heard that the last time the Middle East peace process had been considered was 6 months previously in December. We heard that the process was waiting for the outcome of the Israeli elections. We also heard that there needed to be some conclusion on the P5+1 nuclear talks.Several weeks later we can look at what actually happened. The Israelis decided their electoral process—a Netanyahu Government. I would also note the successful conclusion several weeks after the Minister presented this of the P5+1 nuclear talks. Indeed Mr McCully talks to this. We have to imagine that this is a very important activity around the world. Nearly everyone was very pleased to have those talks concluded in a satisfactory way and New Zealand was the chair when that happened. Mr McCully talked to it at that time. Here is what he said: “Over the last eighteen months negotiators have been working to secure an agreement that will increase international confidence in the nature of Iran’s nuclear programme … This agreement is a positive development for regional stability in the Middle East and will allow for further progress to be made in the relationship between New Zealand and Iran. New Zealand commends all parties to the negotiations for staying the course and concluding this important deal. As the current President of the United Nations Security Council New Zealand will do what it can to expedite any necessary Security Council action and we call for the agreement to be implemented as soon as possible”.So there was a clear answer to us. We asked what role New Zealand was playing on the Security Council. There was a clear answer and within a few weeks we had already stepped up to the plate and been a part of those talks. Furthermore on taking the chair of the council on 1 July New Zealand has more than kept to its word on the whole matter of the Middle East peace process. At the recent Middle East open debate at the United Nations Mr McCully demonstrated that leadership and commitment that we bring because that is what got us the seat in the first place. The small nations said: “Yes we believe in you. We believe you will lead us that you will speak for us that you will guide us and help us.” and within the first few weeks that is exactly what we did tackling some of the hard questions—and the Middle East peace process is a hard question.Here is the statement that demonstrates to those who supported us that we do indeed respect their vote and that we are doing stuff. This is from Mr McCully. Speaking to the United Nations Security Council at the Middle East open debate in New York where New Zealand is currently president Mr McCully said: “[T]he situation in Syria has remained deadlocked for far too long. The region cannot afford for the conflict to continue. Nor can the Council – its credibility is at stake.” These are fighting words. This is tough talk for New Zealand. Although the United Nations Security Council celebrated a historic agreement earlier this week when it signed off a nuclear deal with Iran Mr McCully stressed that the council could not rest on its laurels. That is good stuff. It is a real demonstration that we carry a strong voice at the council.We also heard from the Minister of Customs. We asked customs about what our drug detection capabilities at the border are. We were advised of many refined and very sophisticated tools that we have at our disposal. These included intelligence machinery—that is advanced passenger processing that gives us the ability before people actually hit our borders to have a higher index of suspicion and to do something about it. We were also able to share the Ministry for Primary Industries’ X-ray equipment and it was relayed to us that purchasing approval had been had for cutting-edge detection technology that can detect drug suspended in solutions. This is a good thing. We were also told that we have trace-detection technology that works at a molecular level and of course drug dogs which are very successful for mass screening.So we were told what mechanisms we have to detect and we clearly know what we see and find but an interesting question is: what do we not detect? What could be getting past us? Do we have any sense as to what that looks like? So we actually asked that question and what we were told was that yes there are actually several ways to determine on the street how we are doing and what might be getting past us. Those two ways were first of all a survey that Massey University does regularly. That gets some assessment as to what is on the street what got past us. The second way is measuring commodity prices and simple supply and demand. What they are noticing is that prices for refined methamphetamine especially are stabilising and may even be rising and that would suggest that supply is falling. So I think that in some sense that is an independent measure that our drug detection capabilities at the border are actually successful.At the estimates hearing we heard very strong support for the New Zealand Defence Force. It was quite akin to what the member Ron Mark from New Zealand First was telling us. I do not think a Minister could have given a stronger statement and indeed it raised some contention amongst the committee members at that time. So I want to totally disagree with what Ron Mark was saying. What we did ask the Defence Force about was the other side of the work. So there was a lot of discussion around our forces in Taji and the excellent work they are doing. We asked them about their capabilities and their work around disaster relief more specifically in Vanuatu in the wake of Cyclone—Vote Customs Vote Defence Vote Defence Force Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade and Vote Official Development Assistance agreed to.