Why New Zealand should answer President Obama’s challenge by showing some leadership and campaigning for a world free of nuclear weapons, whether they are in Iran, North Korea or the United States of America:
Why New Zealand should answer President Obama’s challenge by showing some leadership and campaigning for a world free of nuclear weapons, whether they are in Iran, North Korea or the United States of America:
This entry was posted on Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 6:44 pm and is filed under Uncategorized, humour, labour, workforce. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I thought you wanted National to ignore Obama and trot along behind Malcolm Fraser.
So, Labour thought sending the SAS to Afghanistan was such a great and Independent idea when Bush asked but not when Obama does.
I think we can all see who takes Obama seriuously and who is living in the past.
You might want to put some thought into foreign affairs, being out-classed by Key is probably not a good look.
That was a great speech, thankyou Lange for our nuclear free country.
Slight problem, Neil: National has had to ride on Labour’s coat-tails re the development of independent foreign policy, including our anti-nuclear stance, which National had to be dragged into, so to catch up with the rest of the country.
outclassed by key?
do you live in some sort of a parallel universe?
Amazing speech, amazing man, amazing policy. David Lange carved out an idependant foreign policy for New Zealand with that speech. He showed that we do not have to follow Britan or Australia. What has John Key done? Spun the same lines as all other leaders.
We need an other Lange or Savage.
There were several impressive things for me about that speech. The first was the content which set out an independent foreign policy. The second was the humour which leavened the content, and was so attractive. The third was the obvious conviction and passion which Lange had for this policy position. And fourthly, his presence and his oratorical skills, such that few NZ politicians ever had, and which the fumbling hesitancy and neologisms of John Key could never approach.
Sometimes, the message has to be encapsulated in a way that attracts people. That was the thing with, say, Bob Dylan. When he sang ” For the times they are a-changin,” somehow he spoke for me what was in my inarticulate heart.
So, too, with Lange. There is a book published of speeches which have changed the world. Lange’s Oxford Union speech was published there.
As with the Savage government speaking out against the colonialist oppression of the Italians in the League of Nations, New Zealand can act as a leader by showing that principle and morality have a place in international affairs. Truth must be spoken to power, as the Quakers say.
Our nuclear-free policy has always been one for us to be proud of. Not just because it means we use a lot more safer energy souces but because it showed we can think for ourselves, and don’t need larger countries to dictate our policy for us.
@ Jack – Add Fraser to that list too. A lot of my professors have gone as far as to say he was our greatest Prime Minister.