VZCZCXRO5177
PP RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHWL #0068/01 0230352
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 230352Z JAN 07
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3757
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 4704
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 0157
RUEHPB/AMEMBASSY PORT MORESBY PRIORITY 0631
RUEHGO/AMEMBASSY RANGOON PRIORITY 0031
RUEHSV/AMEMBASSY SUVA PRIORITY 0558

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 
 
WELLINGTON 00000068  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
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. 
 
-------------------------------- 
BILATERAL VISITS IN THE PIPELINE 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶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. 
 
--------------------- 
PACIFIC ISLAND ISSUES 
--------------------- 
 
¶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 
 
WELLINGTON 00000068  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
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. 
 
------------ 
OTHER ISSUES 
------------ 
 
¶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