EAP DAS DAVIES JANUARY 16-7 MEETINGS WITH GNZ

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WELLINGTON 000068

SIPDIS

NOFORN
SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/FO, EAP/ANP, EAP/EP AND EAP/RSP

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/19/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV NZ ASEAN FJ BM
SUBJECT: EAP DAS DAVIES JANUARY 16-7 MEETINGS WITH GNZ
OFFICIALS

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Classified By: DCM DAVID J. KEEGAN,
FOR REASONS 1.4(b) and (d)


1. (C/NF) Summary: Senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs and
Trade officials told visiting EAP DAS Glyn Davies that they
hope that the possible visit of PM Helen Clark and other GNZ
officials to Washington will further enhance the recently
improved US-NZ relationship. Davies agreed but cautioned
that an improved relationship would not come cost free. New
Zealand must continue to find new ways to cooperate and to
improve the "tonality" of its public messages concerning the
United States. The Kiwis agreed and said they are stressing
within their system the boundaries of what is possible.
Davies, who was visiting Wellington on his way to the 50th
anniversary celebrations of US-NZ cooperation on Antarctica,
also discussed recent events in the Pacific Islands, the
ASEAN/EAS Summit, and other regional issues during his
meetings. DAS Davies' meeting with Foreign Minister Peters
is reported septel. End Summary.

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BILATERAL VISITS IN THE PIPELINE
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2. (C/NF) Virtually every Kiwi official who met with Davies
during his two-day visit to Wellington stressed how helpful
bilateral visits and meetings have been to keeping momentum
within the GNZ towards improved US-NZ relations. At a
January 16 roundtable on the relationship and areas for
future cooperation, Defence Secretary John McKinnon, who
chaired the meeting, told Davies that Prime Minister Clark
had been very pleased with her conversation with the
President in Hanoi and hopes to be able to visit Washington
in March. (Until last month, McKinnon had been the MFAT
Deputy Secretary in charge of the Americas and Asia.) Davies
encouraged the GNZ to think of low-key "deliverables" for a
visit, perhaps using as a starting point working holiday
visas and other smaller-scale agenda items from the
cooperation "matrix" under discussion since the July 2006
US-NZ working level meeting in Bangkok. Davies also
suggested it would be helpful for the PM to make a positive
speech about bilateral ties while in the U.S.


3. (C/NF) The GNZ officials also reiterated the PM's
invitation to the President to visit New Zealand following
September's APEC Summit in Sydney. A highlight of the visit
would be a meeting with Pacific Island Country (PIC) leaders.
Davies said that a brief visit might be possible, but
cautioned that the President's schedule is still unclear and
there are a lot of competing demands on his time, including
the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Ministry of Foreign
Affairs and Trade (MFAT) Deputy Secretary Alan Williams, who
handles Australian and Pacific Island Affairs, said that GNZ
would strongly encourage that we agree by May whether or not
a visit was at least possible in order to ensure a high level
of PIC leader representation.


4. (C/NF) In a separate meeting, MFAT CEO Simon Murdoch said
Foreign Minister Peters would like to visit Washington some
time between March and September. (Peters confirmed this
when he met with Davies the next day (septel)).
Defence/Trade Minister Goff will probably visit the U.S.
during the 3rd quarter. The Kiwis said they will also
welcome EAP/ANP Director Steven McGann's visit to Wellington
in April for "matrix" discussions. McKinnon and Murdoch said
they hoped the new Deputy Foreign Secretary covering US
issues, John McArthur, would soon visit Washington for
meetings with A/S Hill, DAS Davies, and others. Both sides
agreed there would be value in holding TIFA talks in New
Zealand this year and hoped for a meaningful second US-NZ
Partnership Forum meeting in Auckland in September. The NZ
side said they thought the first day of the Forum would
center on Asia-Pacific regional issues, the second on trade.

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PACIFIC ISLAND ISSUES
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4. (C/NF) During the roundtable, the Kiwis highlighted how
helpful it has been to consult with U.S. officials on events
in Fiji and elsewhere in the Pacific. Williams said his
November DVC with Director McGann and Australian official
David Ritchie had been particularly useful. He is looking

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forward to continued three-way talks on the margins of next
month's Chief of Missions conference in Honolulu. At a
working lunch on Pacific Island issues, Davies said he
planned to travel to Suva in early February, and he solicited
the GNZ's views on Fijian Prime Minister (and coup leader)
Frank Bainimarama. NZ Defence Force Chief Jerry Mataparae
agreed with Davies' assessment that Bainimarama had
instigated the coup because he feared he would be arrested by
the former government, but said Bainimarama had also acted
because he believes he knows best for Fiji. NZAID Executive
Director Peter Adams said that his Fijian contacts predict
the Fijian public will give the interim government 18-24
months to do what it says it will do. After that, the
government will lose any support it has and will also start
to splinter into factions. Williams said that the expiration
of European trade preferences will be more than many PICs can
handle. He indicated that the other PICS may suffer if
Western sanctions end up freezing Fijian trade negotiators
(who are more numerous and competent than those from other
PICs) out of the negotiations to replace the preferences.

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OTHER ISSUES
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5. (C/NF) McKinnon told Davies that shortly before
Christmas, NZ Ministers had approved an increase in NZ's
contribution to the Antarctic C-130 logistics pool from 30 to
40 percent of airlifts. They also agreed to add three C-130
flights in both April '08 and '09 to help move scientists off
the ice (as NSF had requested). The Ministers additionally
asked working level NZ officials to look into additional
areas of support, such as wind generation capacity for Scott
and McMurdo. On Afghanistan, Deputy Defence Secretary Chris
Seed said it was very possible Ministers would extend the
Bamiyan PRT through 2009, but it was less likely they could
approve a new SAS deployment this year given the need for
the Special Forces to recover from their last deployment to
Afghanistan. McKinnon told Davies that in addition to facing
criticism from the revenue lost from the suspended sale of
the A-4 Skyhawks, the Government is under pressure because
the planes are a reminder of PM Clark's controversial
decision to eliminate the NZ Defence Force's air combat wing
when she came into office. The Kiwis acknowledged they need
to tell State/PM how they'd like the USG to handle the
application: ie whether we suspend it, deny it, or wait for
GNZ to withdraw it.


6. (C/NF) Murdoch had just returned from accompanying PM
Clark and FM Peters to the ASEAN/EAS meetings in Cebu. He
told Davies that ASEAN members Singapore, Indonesia, and
Malaysia had wanted to show the forum's friends and partners
that ASEAN's nonintervention policy hasn't prevented
individual members from expressing concern about Burma's
human rights record. They see the failed UNSC vote on Burma
as a setback, and are regrouping to see what to do next.
Murdoch said that China was more engaged in the East Asian
Summit than many had believed would be the case. This
allowed Japan, India, and New Zealand to add more substance
and call for a strengthened role for the Secretariat.
Murdoch said that PM Clark and PM Howard agree that the EAS
has taken root.


7. (C/NF) Murdoch put in a quiet pitch for the US to add NZ
to the queue for an FTA once the U.S. process resumes. He
said that PM Clark would visit the Hill to make a similar
request during her visit and would make a soft request to the
President as well. Trade/Defence Minister Goff will likely
make a stronger request when he next goes to the States.
McCormick