VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHWL #0361/01 1280357
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 080357Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4235
INFO RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI IMMEDIATE
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 4830

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000361 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR P, EAP/FO, AND EAP/ANP 
STATE PASS TO USDA FOR FAS MIKE WOOLSEY AND JIM DEVER 
NSC FOR VICTOR CHA 
STATE PASS USTR 
OSD FOR USDP/APSA/SSEA JESSICA POWERS 
PACOM FOR J01E/J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PREL ETRD MARR NZ
SUBJECT: DEFENSE AND TRADE MINISTER PHIL GOFF'S TRIP TO 
WASHINGTON 
 
REF: A. WELLINGTON 194 
     ¶B. WELLINGTON 351 
 
Classified By: Acting DCM Katherine B. Hadda, 
for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
¶1.  (C) Summary:  New Zealand's Minister for Defense and 
Trade Phil Goff sees his May 9-11 visit to Washington as a 
chance to build on the positive momentum created by PM Helen 
Clark's March visit (Ref A).  On the Defense side, Goff will 
express hope that both countries can continue to identify 
joint areas of military cooperation as our resources and 
interests allow.  He will stop short of offering any 
substantive suggestions for new areas in which to work 
together, recognizing that it will be up to the United States 
to decide what cooperation is feasible for us under modified 
waiver restrictions. Goff will also wish to talk about his 
recent trip to Afghanistan and his meetings with U.S. 
military officials there, as well as exchange views on the 
Pacific, Iran, and N.Korea.  He will for political reasons 
raise NZ's interest in selling its retired A-4 planes, but 
not press the issue as he knows the USG review of the sale 
remains frozen.  He will also emphasize that failure to sell 
the planes will not decrease NZ's long-range military 
spending increases. 
¶2.  (C) Goff realizes that U.S. officials will remain unable 
to consider a bilateral FTA with New Zealand absent renewal 
of Trade Promotion Authority, but he will stress that the GNZ 
remains strongly interested in starting negotiations as soon 
as possible.  He will also wish to share views on prospects 
for successful conclusion of WTO Doha Round negotiations and 
discuss the U.S. Farm Bill.  Goff, widely considered to be 
among the most intelligent and hard-working of Labour's MPs, 
will arrive ready to discuss issues in detail. End Summary. 
 
-------------------- 
Defense and Security 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  (C) According to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade 
(MFAT) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) officials, Minister Goff 
sees his visit as an opportunity to let Defense Secretary 
Gates, National Security Advisor Hadley, and other U.S. 
officials know that New Zealand is interested in 
strengthening bilateral military relations as part of our 
efforts to improve US-NZ ties.  Goff will highlight the areas 
in which he believes New Zealand is adding value to regional 
and global security, and note the GNZ's interest in expanding 
cooperation where interests and policies allow.  He will 
probably not suggest anything specific, however, in large 
part because he does not want to appear presumptuous about 
how we will wish to cooperate under a modified USG military 
waiver process. That being said, Goff will likely express 
appreciation for both the recent USG decision to streamline 
some waivers as well as the positive first round of NZDF-DoD 
working level consultations.  He would value USG views on 
both initiatives, but will probably not actively lobby for 
this, again in deference to us. 
 
¶4.  (C) Goff will stress that although New Zealand has only 
extended its military commitments in Afghanistan through 
September 2008, the Government intends to remain there for 
the foreseeable future, as long as needed.  He will also wish 
to share his observations from his recent visit to 
Afghanistan, which included a visit to New Zealand's 
Provincial Reconstruction Team in Bamiyan as well as 
discussions with ISAF Commander  McNeil and Ambassador Wood 
at a dinner that Goff hosted in Kabul.  Finally,  Goff will 
note that New Zealand understands and appreciates our desire 
that NZDF Special Forces return to Afghanistan, but will 
reiterate that this will not be possible for a year at 
minimum, given the NZDF's other regional commitments. 
 
¶5.  (C) Minister Goff will be interested in exchanging views 
on Iran and North Korea (NB: he is also the Minister for 
Disarmament) and the Pacific Island Countries.  He will also 
raise E. Timor, where he will visit shortly after his trip to 
Washington and Paris. In his meeting with A/S Hill (and 
possibly Secretary Gates) he may raise New Zealand's 
application to sell its retired A-4 planes to a private U.S. 
company.  He sees mentioning the issue as a political 
necessity, since the opposition National Party has criticized 
 
the Government's inclusion of revenues from the sale in the 
NZDF's Long Term Development Plan (LTDP) budget.  But Goff 
recognizes that the USG review of the sale is frozen for the 
foreseeable future, so will not press the matter.  He will 
also stress that while the lack of a sale would affect NZDF's 
cash flow, it will not reduce the Government's LTDP budget or 
other military spending. 
 
------------ 
Trade Issues 
------------ 
 
¶6.  (C) New Zealand's economy remains relatively strong 
overall, with low unemployment and a projected 2007 GDP 
growth rate of 2%.  But manufacturers and exporters are 
concerned about the highest interest rates in decades and 
record high NZ dollar exchange rate.  Their worries are being 
exploited by the opposition National Party, which blames 
Labour government spending for the problems (Ref B).  Recent 
NZ layoffs by manufacturers such as Fisher and Paykel in 
favor of cheaper Asian labor have added to the sense that New 
Zealand, with its open markets, is losing out to more 
protectionist and less developed economies.  All this will be 
weighing on the mind of Minister Goff.  He will make clear to 
US officials and Congressmen that while the GNZ recognizes 
that no Free Trade Agreement will be possible unless Trade 
Promotion Authority is renewed, New Zealand remains highly 
interested in starting negotiations as soon as possible. 
Goff will also be very interested in discussing prospects for 
a successful Doha round and will offer continued NZ 
assistance in that direction.  He will also remind his 
interlocutors that collapse of talks could cause economic 
contractions in New Zealand and other small economies.  He 
will be keen as well to share New Zealand's experience with 
agricultural deregulation and to discuss the U.S. Farm Bill. 
 
----------------------- 
Hard-Charging Phil Goff 
----------------------- 
 
¶7.  (C) Although Goff seemed reluctant to cede his Foreign 
Ministry post after the 2005 general elections,  he has by 
all accounts settled in well to his defense and trade 
portfolios.  Although he has publicly disagreed with U.S. 
policies at times, Goff also often talks about his close ties 
to and admiration for the United States.  His sister is 
married to an American and lives in California, and Goff may 
mention during his meetings that his four American nephews 
are all involved in the U.S. military.  The eldest, having 
served in Iraq, is now heading to the DAO office in Embassy 
Bangkok; the second is to be deployed soon from Vincenze to 
Afghanistan; the third is at West Point, and the fourth is in 
the ROTC at the University of Southern California.  Since 
being at the Ministry of Defence, Goff has also apparently 
had a similar revelation to PM Clark's about the depth and 
breadth of existing US-NZ military cooperation (Ref A), which 
he has now seen first hand.  He has also noted to us many 
times that he appreciates the recent warming in US-NZ 
relations. 
 
¶8.  (C) Goff is extremely hard working, and pulls in long 
hours for both his Ministries as well as his constituents in 
the Auckland suburb of Mt. Roskill.  (After the Ambassador's 
recent dinner hosted in Minister Goff's honor broke up at 
10:30 pm, Goff returned to his office to work.)  Goff shares 
PM Clark's gift for detail and he will be very well versed in 
all issues covered at his Washington meetings.  He is also 
determined to succeed -- quickly -- at anything he tries.  He 
recently told Emboffs that when he wished to try skydiving 
out of a military plane (his first jump ever), he opted for a 
water landing because that required only a day's training 
instead of the two-week course required to alight on land. 
He then negotiated the training down to two hours.  He 
confessed to having been scared during the jump, but said 
mostly he was very focused on the job at hand.  This sums up 
his working style in a nutshell. 
McCormick