Well, Hillary Rodham Clinton has gone now and we are left with the analysis and debriefing apparent in both The Nation and Q&A today on television. Those who got interviews are crowing and those who shook her hand (like me) are revelling in the moment.
John Key, I presume, is right now reading his Cabinet papers for tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting. The Cabinet will, I presume, do its own stocktake of Secretary Clinton’s visit and Murray McCully will lead the discussion on the list of initiatives to pursue, in priority order. Is John Key reading his papers? Will the Cabinet have anything to discuss except who got their photo taken with her?
I despair of John Key’s leadership skills – he seemed overawed and intimidated by Clinton; I didn’t hear him make one utterance which sounded like it was informed by a briefing paper or was based on any recognisable principle for NZ’s relationship with the US; did he even learn any lines MFAT gave him? I worry that we have just witnessed this country’s biggest lost opportunity in recent times.
Fortunately, we have capable diplomats and officials who can turn it into a success for which Key can later take the credit.
I am keen to pursue a list of projects in order of priority, on which the US and NZ can work jointly to great effect. That can be done from Opposition, believe me. Oh, and here is my own pic for the scrapbook – I think she still had a hand after I had finished squishing it!
Go Maryan!
Beautiful, just beautiful! 
!
The Key led National Government is a rain of lost opportunities. This is simply another one.
If I we can’t revive ANZUS and get an FTA I’ll take any progress towards closer relations we can get with the US…
As long as we remember no nukes, no us bases on kiwi soil and no allied status, ever, we can just go on as we have done for the past 25 years.
Trade is welcome, but our independence must be paramount (not warners).
The world can change faster than re-arm and given our population we’ll need help from the free world if we face invasion… And in our case that means the Americans…
But…the most likely occupiers of NZ are Australian. (NB may not be a military occupation in that case)
Anyone else who is able to invade us will be able to project military force through an extended distance over sea. That means a very major military power. And whether or not the US decides to intervene at that point against a very major military power is not going to depend on the status of ANZUS or any FTAs.
NZ is a few island in the middle of no where ocean. Its surprising the USA even takes an interest in us and its even more surprising so does china and to be honest, I think china interest in NZ is the change of tact by the USA. All of a sudden we have the attention by ‘important’ American government officials.
Just keeping NZ sweet I guess?
Really what were actually seeing is just international politics at play and I doubt the status between NZ and America will change! Like how some in the USA still want us to be obedient like dogs and take orders from them.
Your right but an FTA gives us increased access to the world’s largest market and ANZUS gives us access to training with the best equipped military in the world – by far, and in the event of the threat of invasion it would put lots of pressure on the US to declare any attack on NZ was a serious threat to US national security…
We need to have an ally (or as close as we can get to it) with the military capability to help us (and the Aussies to a lesser extent) defend ourselves…
The US are no doubt the pre-eminent military force in the world, with unmatched tech in terms of intelligence assets and hardware for sale. So yeah, I agree with you Jeremy, for the sake of my friends in the NZ services (and those about to join) our military needs to have close and ongoing ties with the US.
Is it possible we agree on something..? Defence..?
We better stop posting now…
Maryan believes Key to be overawed by Clinton, and yet in the same post we have:
“Oh, and here is my own pic for the scrapbook – I think she still had a hand after I had finished squishing it!”
Seems Maryan is the one overawed, and over-enthusiastic to boot!
As always you Labour people underestimate John Key. I have no doubt that he got the right messages to Hilary Clinton when there weren’t `big ears’ flapping. He does not need to sound like a foghorn to work with International leaders and their representatives.
The return of American ships to our shores is likely to be just one of the big pluses for NZ.
Exactly Al1ens – NO nukes!
@Red – I’m still not a fan of the USA – they can stay over there
If their military is so good why do they keep losing….. unless its Grenada or Panama.
Other than Gulf War I, they havent won a major war since WWII
To quote Gordon Campbell.
Only diplomats and Jesuits can probably tell the difference between previous US Secretary of State Colin Powell calling New Zealand a ‘very, very, very good friend’, and the “Wellington Declaration” agreement between the two countries signed yesterday by current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully.
Once again, the thesaurus has been ransacked for words and phrases that sound nice, without altering the basic American refusal to call us allies…
Campbell’s right. The Wellington Declaration actually changed nothing. Perhaps it was a thanks for keeping New Zealand forces in Afghanistan, an odd unilateral decision of John Key, made in 5 May 2010 without consulting his Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade or the Minister of Defence. A decision that was opposite to Key’s previous position in 29 April 2010 that New Zealand forces had to be withdrawn,because as Key said “they need to re-group.”
Either way, the Washington Declaration is not a single step closer to a FTA with the U.S. in any way. It was an excuse for photos and a barbeque.
I despair of John Key’s leadership skills
So do I Maryan.
JMH. Anzus is gone- dead- buried! You know that only too well. That doesn’t stop NZ having close economic, defence and intelligence ties with America. We just don’t give it a name any more and that’s a huge improvement. It means we can assert our independence on matters we feel strongly about without affecting what was an anachronistic treaty anyway.
Be kind to our wise PM. Consider the scrapbook of photos and video available for the next election. A kaleidoscope of the PM smiling and waving with important people paying homage to him. Not desirable to play his wise and profound utterances.
Some of you forget that we (and the Aussies) asked for the ANZUS reationship with the US in the first place, and others would not be able to complain about US warships either, if the US in the 1940′s had not the necessary warships to overcome the ‘honourable japanese’.Get real.
@Anne agreed
@ianmac – LOL
Yes Ianmac I can see it already. Night after night of Nat ads… glorious moments merging one with the other… Colgate smiles.. firm handshakes… Armani suits… glamorous hair-dos (no not Key’s)… world famous leaders and sport stars… and a few babies thrown in for good measure. Stirring background music of course. 1812 Overture? And right at the end when the cannons let rip, Key gives his enduring one sentence message for the future of this great nation. (Any more than one mangled sentence would spoil the whole effect).
You’re supposed to laugh Spud;
The U.S has made it clear in order to get an FTA we would need to
1,Gut Pharmac so they can push overpriced Drugs on us.(Thanks to Pfizer,Roche etc)
2,Allow the importation and forbid the labeling of all GE foods As GE foods on our shelves.(Thanks to Monsanto etc)
3,Impose Draconian laws to monitor us all AND in the name of protecting I.P allow for millions of $$ of punitive damages on us(Thanks to Hollywood ,Joe Biden etc)
Anyone noticing a pattern here?
Yes you got it!,the US administrations are just arms of their corporations.Revolving door policy going back decades between big business and the Government has ensured that nothing of true Democracy remains,don’t let that happen here!
Maryan’s gushing reminds me of the statement attributed to former Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies in the 1950s when he is claimed to have said, about the Queen:
“I did but see her passing by, but I shall love her till I die”.
Please Maryan. You are no longer a teeny-bopper raving about The Monkees.
@Anne LOL
http://academic.evergreen.edu/g/grossmaz/interventions.html
The US is not a country we should be cosy with. All this love for Hilary makes me very uncomfortable. The US does not respect the sovereignty of other nations, unless it is in its political and economic interests to(appear)to do so
I must admint Maryan I am surprised that you gush so openly about the most humiliated woman in the world. Why is this?
@harold
Are you Alwyn’s accomplice?
Will the Cabinet have anything to discuss except who got their photo taken with her?.
Probably not, the Wellington declaration doesn’t add up to much.
I’m the original Sean by the way. Not the other one. World of difference in a single grave accent.
Anne, I know not Alwyn and certainly haven’t been around long enough to remember the 50′s.
Hi real sean!
It must be your old fashioned name!
Being a US air craft carrier – no thanks!
Jeremy, who are you afraid of? Are the Fijian’s coming (other than as recruits to various super 8 Boys Schools)?
Anyway, I am sure Mr. Key enjoyed meeting President Clinton
Hey Spud.
Were the Monkees really in the 1950s? My mother used to talk about them and though I, of course, thought she was really, really old I didn’t think she was that old. I just thought she was about Maryan’s generation.
Also I do not have accomplices. I have acolytes.
@ the acute Sean, not grave – first, I was very comfortable in Hillary Clinton’s presence, not overawed, and second, I’m not the PM.
@pdm – American ships AREN’T returning to our shores! Where did you get that bit??
Hey Alwyn – the Monkees were in the 60s. And just cos I know all the words, doesn’t mean that I gushed over them when I was 8!
Imagine the thought 30 years ago of having free trade and navy ship visits from China, but not the US!
Anyone envious of our ability to grow food for 45,000,000 more people than our current population…
On the Pacific Rim are the 1st and 5th largest countries by population, one Communist, one Muslim, both with massive armies… The world can change quickly and our farmland, water reserves and crops might look very attractive very quickly…
A great nation is worth defending, it’s a disgrace we don’t have a tank battalion and strike air wing, we might not be able to defend against larger countries but we should give them pause and a bloody nose if required… Our politicians are failing at one of their core responsibilities…
It would be very costly to maintain a strike wing etc. In the event an attack occurred, the best bet would be to hire a private military company from the US to supplement our efforts and any assistance from Aust and US. One must also remember the dynamics between the Pacific Rim countries. None is likely to want the other to have access to NZ.
You cannot predict what any other country’s capability might be… I don’t think hiring a private military company would be viable in a global event, the Americans would hire themselves and that is without saying anything of the US being targetted by an MSD…
Everyone from Libertarians to Communists accept it is a core function of government to defend a nation, a tank battalion, strike wing on top of our current capabilities should be the minimum we have IMO… The cost would be a tiny fraction of our $64,000,000,000 government budget…
The NZ air strike force LOL
I remember all the boo hooing from the nats at the time it was cut – “A disgrace” they sang in unison.
They never replaced it, did they? And for good reason – It’s pointless and cost ineffective.
As has been stated, Indonesia and China would be the most likely potential aggressors, each with huge military spends and weight of numbers in advance of our own.
How much better to spend the money on New Zealander’s direct needs than equipping and maintaining a fleet of fighter planes that in reality wouldn’t last 10 minutes in combat.
Anyway, as everyone is now fully aware from the history of Afghanistan and Iraq, an insurgency rebellion can bring down superpowers (both USSR and USA).
The best way to win a modern war is through the united will of the people.
I can’t see that ever happening on Ponsonby road and Helensville.
The point is we have these capabilities to commit to those countries who share our world view and say, if we need you we do not ask you to carry the whole load…
Which other countries share our world view?
The Cook Islands, Samoa and Niue?
Jeremy, I think you are being a bit paranoid mate, I do not think we will be invaded in my lifetime. There are lots of small countries with minimal armed forces, e.g. Switzerland.
Well Maryan, the comments in the post indicate otherwise but I’ll take your word for it. Even if you had been overawed (at being in the presence of someone so famous), it’s probably a natural human reaction anyway so that it itself is no big deal. However taking cheap pot-shots at Key for showing the same trait as yourself (as indicated in the post) seems a bit unfair, to say the least. To say it’s okay to go a bit giddy because you’re not the PM is somewhat of a cop-out. Afterall you’re a senior member of the opposition and former government minister, probably the public would expect that next level to hold some composure also…
Well I agree with you on the grammar/orthography at least. The acute accent is known as a fada in Gaelic.
Jeremy – we have Australia
But then they might start wanting our land and our food and …
See-AN
Leave Maryan alone! 
Please
I got curious so here goes: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se%C3%A1n