Friday, April 24, 2009
The Parliamentary team of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand wants everybody to celebrate Earth Day
Monday, April 20, 2009
Update from Kennedy Graham, MP: April/May 2009
ACT becomes increasingly irrelevant and the Maori Party is riven with dissension over its Faustian bargain in government. The Green Party continues to define itself as separate from Labour, genuinely independent and offering an alternative political-economic philosophy that is qualitatively different and right for the times.
On 8 April the Memorandum of Understanding between National and the Greens was publicly announced. As the Prime Minister said, about one-third of National supporters want to see cooperation with the Greens since they harbour deep concern for the future of the planet and their families. We should welcome that while showing the challenge is not simply to
‘balance economic opportunity with environmental responsibilities’ (National’s catch-phrase) but make the economy respect the environment for survival’s sake. Once they make that transition in thinking, we’ll lead them towards proper notions of social responsibility and justice. Then, National will have embraced our philosophy.
Personally it’s been a busy time with questions and statements in the House plus media interviews on overseas investment, aid, climate change, war crimes and nuclear disarmament. I’m now beginning to get a feel for the place and figuring out how it works. Just as well since I am now Musterer for the Party.
Aoraki Greens are clearly growing in strength which is exciting. I have met with Port Hills (and Ilam of course) and am meeting soon with East, Central and Waimakariri. I’m looking forward to catching up with other electorates before long. And at the national level we’re preparing for a series of public meetings on the Green New Deal, one of which will be in Christchurch. Kia kaha, everyone, and let’s work on expanding our membership even more.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
NZ must be ‘anti-nuke’ all the time
New Zealand needs to be true to its nuclear-free policy, not timidly choosing when to speak out and cherry-picking which resolutions to support at the United Nations, said Green Party MP, Dr Kennedy Graham.
Last December, at the United Nations, New Zealand opposed resolution 63/75 calling for a treaty that would ban the use of nuclear weapons.
"It is a bizarre sight to see New Zealand, whose leaders from 1985 to 2009 continually reject the use of nuclear weapons for our defence, oppose, along with NATO countries, a call for a treaty that would prohibit their use," said Dr Graham.
"NATO countries rely on nuclear weapons. New Zealand does not. NATO believes that their retention of nuclear weapons keeps the peace. New Zealand does not. It is time that New Zealand acted consistently with its stated policy of rejecting nuclear deterrence and supported the UN call to ban the use of nuclear weapons."
This week, after questions from the Green Party, the Prime Minister confirmed to Parliament that his Government stood by the Lange Government’s renunciation of nuclear deterrence, both for itself and all other countries. Mr Key also confirmed that New Zealand supported all resolutions at the UN to that end.
"New Zealand governments, both Labour and National, have always claimed that New Zealand maintains an unblemished record with our nuclear-free policy. But in fact both have selectively chosen to support some calls and oppose others at the UN – all of which reflect the nuclear-free goals we espouse," said Dr Graham.
"It is good to have the Prime Minister explicitly reaffirm the strong rejection of nuclear deterrence that New Zealand first articulated in the 1980s.
"Mr Key will, however, need to issue new instructions to his Foreign Minister so that his Government can live up to his high standards of consistency on nuclear disarmament."
Friday, March 27, 2009
New Chance for NZ as Global Citizen on Aid
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
NZ for Sale? For Sure, says English
The current review of overseas investment rules, particularly those around sensitive land suggests that the ACT Party is unduly pushing National Government policy, said Green Party Overseas Investment spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham.
No part of New Zealand is off-limits in the Government’s upcoming review of overseas investment rules Finance Minister Bill English confirmed today.
Mr English told Parliament in a reply to questions from Dr Graham that land defined as sensitive, such as the seabed and foreshore, would be included in the Government’s review of overseas investment rules.
The Overseas Investment Act 2005 tightened the law on what parts of New Zealand could be purchased by overseas investors – including off-shore islands and any part of the seabed and foreshore.
The policy difference between ACT and National in 2005 was palpable, as Dr Graham pointed out in Parliament today.
At the time John Key thought there was a "genuine concern – and I think a warranted concern from New Zealanders – that we do not want to become tenants in our own country. I think the long-term future for New Zealand is not that of a bunch of people running around serving lattes to foreigners who own our country."
In 2005 ACT stated that foreign investment is "overwhelmingly favourable" for New Zealand and that there is "no evidence that foreigners make poor landowners."
"John Key's view in 2005 was sound," said Dr Graham. "We do need to be careful with our foreign investment. But his 2008 policy is being pushed by his strange ministerial partnership. Allowing more overseas millionaires to buy precious parts of New Zealand will do nothing to stimulate the economy.
"New Zealand doesn’t have a capital gains tax therefore the Government will gain nothing whatsoever from the sale of land. If an overseas citizen sells their little slice of New Zealand to another overseas citizen, no New Zealander will benefit.
"This review looks guaranteed to do nothing to stimulate the economy but appears more and more a sop the extreme free market dogma of the ACT Party. New Zealanders will gain nothing from this review other than a few more ‘Keep Out’ signs on land they once had access to," said Dr Graham.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Foreign Ownership
17 Mar 2009
Subject: Foreign Ownership
Dr Kennedy Graham
The Government seems keen to put the 'For Sale' sign up on land that is currently off-limits to foreign investment, said Green Party MP Dr Kennedy Graham.
Finance Minister Bill English this afternoon attacked the rules around foreign investment as too complex for business. Of particular concern to Mr English was the fact that processing a sensitive land application involves the assessment of 27 different criteria and factors.
"There is a reason that rules around overseas investment in sensitive land is complex – we don’t necessarily want overseas investors buying large chunks of pristine New Zealand land and turning them into golf courses or amusement parks – or coal mines" said Green Party’s Foreign Investment Spokesperson Dr Graham.
"The Government and Act seem intent on greater foreign ownership of New Zealand for the sake of uncritical economic growth. However, when New Zealand firms fall into foreign ownership, dividend payments flow offshore further worsening our current account deficit. "
"Passive investment into New Zealand should not be confused with productive investment. The former simply exploits our country's productive capacity doing nothing to enhance our productivity. New Zealand if anything actually needs smarter foreign investment rules not weaker ones as National is proposing," said Dr Graham.
The recent jobs summit and the calls for regulatory reform were given as major reasons behind the latest push to weaken regulation around what land foreign investors can purchase in New Zealand.
"Which criteria does the Government want to weaken? Is it the criterion that protect indigenous fauna and wildlife or is it kiwi jobs and technology that will be sacrificed for the sake of overseas investment?" asked Dr Graham.
"Perhaps the Government would like to drop protections relating to public access having just mooted a proposal for a nationwide cycleway?"
"I acknowledge the Government’s desire to attract investment in the belief that this is good for the New Zealand economy. But that desire has transformed into a fetish. It needs to be resisted."
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Charity Shouldn’t Begin At Home for Overseas Aid
The Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully needs to tell the public just what will qualify as New Zealand Aid (NZAID) under his reign, said Green Party Overseas Development Assistance Spokesperson Dr Kennedy Graham.
Yesterday at his post-cabinet press conference Prime Minister John Key told journalists that subsidising Air New Zealand flights between Tonga, Samoa and the United States may very well come out of NZAID’s budget under a National Government.
The flights from Samoa and Tonga to the United States mainland, which were at risk of being cancelled, play a large part in assisting these countries tourism industries. Regular access to the American mainland also assists Tonga and Samoa to export goods.
"It is not necessarily bad that Tonga and Samoa’s access to the United States mainland is being kept open," said Dr Graham. "But if this money is going to come out of NZAID’s budget in future years there needs to be transparency around the arrangement. Is our already low NZAID budget now going to become an indirect subsidy for our national carrier?"
In answers to Written Questions Mr McCully has stated that he wants NZAID to focus its programmes towards ‘economic growth, including infrastructure development, sectors such as fisheries and tourism, and private sector development.’ Mr McCully has included all of these areas under the banner of ‘sustainable economic growth’.
"Mr McCully has dismissively stated to the media that you could ‘throw hundred dollar bills out of a helicopter and call it aid’ – well in future will NZAID money be going to New Zealand companies to shovel hundred dollar bills into tourist condominiums?," asked Dr Graham.
Dr Graham was thankful that the Prime Minister at yesterday’s post-cabinet press conference has at least ruled out seabed mining around Pacific countries as being a ‘sustainable’ industry to sink NZAID dollars into.
Last week National MPs on the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee defeated a Labour/Green Party motion that would have required Mr McCully to answer the Committee’s questions on this issue.
"I challenge Mr McCully, upon his return from Europe, to attend the committee and explain just what will be being funded and what other cuts, besides the $1.95 million-a-year Pacific aid programme, will be made."
Friday, March 6, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Final Statement before Election
We are coming to the end of an exciting and, I believe a productive, election campaign.
It has been a privilege to stand as the Green Party candidate for Ilam.
I think, and trust, that we have effectively put our message across with vision and inspiration.
We are asking voters, this Saturday, to think of the planet and our children, as you cast your vote.
With your help, by choosing to PARTY VOTE GREEN, we can make the changes that are needed.
Change for the world, for our country, for ourselves.
Thanks for checking into my blog.
I hope that I have the opportunity, and the honour, to serve you in Parliament.
Sincerely,
Ken Graham
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The People 'vs' The Bomb
This report by UN World Opinion Forum correspondent, Kevin Sanders updates and expands an earlier program on the failure of the last Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference at the UN in 2005, when the Bush Administration blocked discussion of earlier agreements on nuclear disarmament. The next NPT Review will not be until 2010.Then-Secretary-General of the UN Kofi Annan called the failure "a real disgrace."
Others appearing in the program include former UN nuclear weapons inspector Hans Blix, Michail Gorbachev, former US Defense Secretary Robert McNamarra, former Kennedy advisor Ted Sorensen, the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, anti-nuclear activist Dr Helen Caldicott, World Court Justice Weeramantry, former Canadian Disarmament Minister Senator Douglas Roach, Gareth Evans co-chair of Australia's International Commission on Disarmament and the late Nobel Peace Laureate Joseph Rotbalt - who worked on the Manhattan Project that build the bomb - together with citizens, youth groups and peace organizations from around the world.
In addition to highlights of UN presentations, "The People v The Bomb" also features scenes from the mass anti-nuclear rally in Central Park, and excerpts from the historic hearings on the legality of nuclear weapons at the World Court in The Hague, together with updates on developments worldwide as governments, groups and citizens press for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The program concludes with statements by the two major party presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on issues of nuclear proliferation, nuclear testing, disarmament and the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Welcome
I'm Ken Graham and I'm standing for Parliament as the Green candidate for Ilam.
I was born and grew up in New Zealand, and have lived and worked in ten countries (NZ, Canada, USA, Thailand, Switzerland, UK, Bangladesh, Sweden, Jordan, Belgium).
I have had extensive professional experience in government, civil society, the United Nations, and academia. I am currently Senior Adjunct Fellow in the School of Law at Canterbury University, Senior Lecturer at Victoria University and Visiting Professor at the College of Europe.
I have served, in this country, on local school boards, national institutes and ministerial advisory committees.
I am married (to Marilyn Moir Graham) and have two adult sons and three young grand-daughters.
I am deeply concerned about the future of the planet, as a nurturing home for future generations.
In Parliament, I shall strive to ensure that New Zealand achieves two things:
- That New Zealand becomes a (genuinely) sustainable society; and
- That it acts as a (genuinely) responsible global citizen.
Among the links to the right, are my thoughts on how we can achieve these goals. I invite you to contact me to discuss these issues and policies. I am the Party's International Secretary, and you can contact me on:
international.secretary@greens.org.nz
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Party Vote Green in ‘08
In this blog, my main message is to encourage you to cast your Party Vote for the Greens. While I shall appreciate individual votes for me in the Ilam Electorate where I am standing, the critical thing is for you to “Party Vote Green”.
Under our MMP voting system, we need a minimum of 5% of the total popular vote for the Greens to be represented in Parliament at all. A 5% popular vote gives us 6 MPs which is what we currently have. Roughly speaking, we gain one additional MP for every 1% additional popular vote we receive.
Opening Campaign Meeting April '08
Greens Co-leader, Jeanette Fitzsimons, addresses Ilam opening campaign meeting. Ilam candidate Ken Graham looks on
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
My View of NZ Politics
Politics, for me, is about society shaping the terrain in a way that enables us as individuals, families and communities to provide for ourselves and to strive for self-fulfillment in whatever creative direction we choose. That requires the right mix of group security and individual freedom. Those two values underpin the political philosophies of the two major parties in New Zealand – Labour and National.
But that’s the traditional approach to politics of previous times. It’s no longer sufficient for our age. In our lifetime societies everywhere, left and right, have taken a wrong turn down the path of unsustainable consumption.
The result is natural resource depletion, environmental degradation and widening inequalities. Global climate change and local pollution are the illnesses, and personal and societal stress are the symptoms. So what is the cause? Over-consumption in the rich ‘North’ and an imbalance between population and carrying capacity in the ‘South’ (the ‘developing world’). Our global ecological overshoot is about 23%.
Humanity only has a short time – a few decades at most – to turn this around, and move in the direction of sustainable living. It will not be easy; but it can be done and our quality of life will be far better when we achieve the goal of a sustainable society. New Zealand may be better off than most. We may appear to be insulated from its worst effects. But that’s an illusion. We’re equally vulnerable to global trends and we need to be in the vanguard of global change.
So, whereas the central message of NZ politics in the 19th century was freedom and in the 20th century it was equality, in the 21st century it is sustainability. And for me that is the over-arching concept underpinning the Green Party.
This doesn’t mean the Greens reject the other political values – our four principles (ecological wisdom, social responsibility, appropriate decision-making and non-violence) make that clear. But I believe that these four together build a sustainable country and a sustainable planet. Provided, of course, that they are genuinely implemented, rather than given lip-service.
The best way of understanding politics today is by supplementing the traditional left-right spectrum with a vertical axis of sustainability and unsustainability. The Greens, like all parties, encompass a range of individual opinion – on the horizontal axis probably from left to centre-right. But there is no question that our principles and policies place us above the threshold of sustainability on the vertical axis – the only party to be so positioned.
Monday, March 31, 2008
My Green Vision
My Green vision is two-fold – to have NZ become a sustainable society and to act as a responsible global citizen.
A sustainable society thinks globally and acts locally. It rests on the four principles of Green philosophy. A sustainable society is ecological; it is just; it is democratic and it is peaceful. That’s the kind of society we Kiwis want, and that’s the kind of society we deserve. Our Green policies for that are what you, the voters, will judge us by. So it’s up to us Greens to fashion our policies, and style our politics, in a way that makes us credible.
If we have a sustainable society, we’re likely to be a responsible global citizen. Healthy people, healthy nation; healthy nations, healthy planet.
A country with a decent foreign policy thinks globally & acts globally. For that New Zealand needs to be law-abiding; it needs to be compassionate; it needs to be progressive; and it needs to be respectful.
- We should honour the rule of international law and never collaborate with those who break it.
- We should provide aid in the amount and quality we promised we would four decades ago.
- We should think of our children’s tomorrow, and meet our Kyoto targets today.
- We should respect all other cultures and world views, eschewing any notion of superior moral insight and the right to speak in the name of the ‘international community’.
Mainstream New Zealand is no longer frightened by the Greens, recognising the accuracy of our environmental warnings over the past decade and the validity of our central sustainability message.
We Greens represent a break with politics-as-usual. We offer a new political philosophy that distinguishes us from the two major parties. Our message of sustainability addresses the 21st century in a way they do not. We’re now established as the responsible third party, and we’re ready to share in government.
Please VOTE PARTY GREEN.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
NZ in an Unsustainable Economy
For New Zealand to become a sustainable society, we need to understand the global problem that humanity faces, our country’s place in that, and its role in the global solution.
The sustainability problem is an imbalance between human numbers and the planet’s carrying capacity. The human population has grown from 1 billion in 1804 to 6.7 b. today, and is projected to reach 9 b. by 2050 before levelling off. Humanity’s current ecological footprint (2.2 hectares per person) exceeds the bio-productive land available (1.8 ha. pp). Those of us alive today are drawing down on the planet’s natural resource base, reducing the possibility of our children and future gerenations meeting their legitimate needs.
The precautionary principle, agreed at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 (which I attended), makes it clear that we cannot rely on techologiccal invention to meet our human needs. The stakes of survival are too high to whistle our way into the future. In the rich ‘North’ we have to change to a less materialistic lifestyle, and in the poorer ‘South’ we have to develop our national economies there on a cleaner, more energy-efficient basis.
New Zealand’s population is only one-twentieth of 1% of the global population. The fate of the Earth will be largely decided by the eleven countries that are over 100 million each, comprising 61% of humanity. That does not, however, absolve us of our proportionate responsibility for humanity’s plight.
New Zealand’s ecological footprint, at 6 ha pp., is 9th largest in the world. Because of our natural resource assets and our sparse population (15 persons per. sq. km., three times less than the global average), we are relatively well off – one of the very few countries with a national ecological surplus.
But it is illusory to conclude that we are invulnerable to the global challenge of sustainability. We have a moral obligation and a vital political interest to reduce our consumption levels and make our productive activity more sustainable.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
NZ as a Sustainable Society
If New Zealand is to become a sustainable society, we shall need a personal and societal transformation within the next decade. We can only do this through far-reaching change at three levels – governmental, corporate and household.
Our governments need to surrender the illusion that human progress is principally dependent on material growth and accurately measured by the GDP. Under the present system:
- No (negative) adjustment is made for the depletion of our natural resources (forestry, fish, soils) or for the pollution from our economic activity (rivers & streams; city smog). That is dangerous.
- No distinction is made between ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ social activity – when the Ilam Road bus-stop glass is smashed and repaired each month at a cost of $2,000, this is recorded as $24,000 of ‘economic progress’ in our annual GDP. That is absurd.
To replace this we need to introduce a new system of Sustainable National Accounts which record the real impact our socio-economic activity is having on our environment. Innovative work on a Genuine Progress Indicator and sustainable national accounts is underway in Canada and The Netherlands. Some exploratory work has been done in NZ, but we do not yet have any such accounts.
As your MP, I shall introduce draft legislation for a true measure of our socio-economic activity that records our progress towards a sustainable society within which a sustainable economy is functioning.
At the corporate level, we need to invite business and farming to make a concerted move towards sustainable economic activity, giving fiscal & monetary signals to which the market can rationally respond.
In our households, we need to transform our lifestyles so that our country becomes truly clean and green. Walking and cycling, driving hybrids, growing organics, composting waste, installing long-life light-bulbs & solar water-heating, and turning down the heat and power – all combine to make a huge difference. That is neither boring nor does it reduce our standard of living – in fact our quality of life goes up.
We shall not succeed in this transformation if we simply vilify other individuals or groups. We are all in this together and we shall only get out of it through constructive leadership and cooperative behaviour. The ecological crisis, around the planet and to a lesser extent here at home, is too serious to do otherwise.
I am happy to meet with you to discuss these ideas in more depth.
Friday, March 28, 2008
NZ as a Responsible Global Citizen
New Zealand has long prided itself as a country with a strong internationalist outlook. In fact, every country has an internationalist outlook, and most countries instinctively believe their particular worldview is superior to all others. A deep cultural subjectivity drives the foreign policy of every country, generating frequent misunderstanding and mistrust, and occasional conflict.
In the past half-century and especially in recent decades, the international community has changed, with unprecedented global problems (nuclear weapons; natural resource depletion, bio-diversity extinction, climate change) confronting humankind. Yet every country at the UN continues to claim complete national sovereignty, each striving to ‘punch above our weight’.
Only when we identify global problems accurately, agree on global strategies to solve them, and implement legitimate national policies to attain the strategies, will humankind mature into a genuine global community. (For my 1999 book, ‘The Planetary Interest’, click here).
How is New Zealand to act as a truly responsible global citizen?
- By honouring our international obligations and never collaborating with those that do not.
- By promoting our nuclear-free policy consistently at the United Nations, and not just sitting on our laurels at home.
- By thinking of our children’s tomorrow and meeting our Kyoto targets today.
- By promoting fair trade and providing aid the way we promised we would four decades ago.
- By respecting all cultures and faiths around the world, offering a model at home.
For the Greens foreign policy manifesto, please click on the Green Party's website under the "Informative Websites" section to the right. In this blog, I shall be developing, over the next few weeks, some views on how New Zealand can be a responsible global citizen through acting consistently with international law.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Ilam Green Candidate Selection
Lee & Dennis
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Campaign For Safer Foods
St Barnabas Church Hall, corner Fendalton Rd/Tui St
Thursday, 8 May, 8.00 p.m. – 9.30 p.m.
MEET THE CANDIDATES PUBLIC MEETING
– ALL WELCOME –
Sue Kedgley,MP
and
Dr. Kennedy Graham
Ilam Green Party Candidate
Topic
“Why We Need A Food Revolution” - Sue Kedgley,MP
"The industrialised western diet, consisting of highly processed foods low in nutrients but high in fat, salt, sugar and additives, and often containing residues of pesticides and veterinary medicines, is making us all ill."
"Poor diet is the leading cause of preventable death in New Zealand accounting for an estimated 30 percent of preventable deaths. Amongst children it is fuelling an epidemic of obesity, type II diabetes and dental decay, and experts warn that unless we radically change the food our children eat, they will be the first generation of children to die before their parents."
"In the US it is estimated that, already, one quarter of children suffer from high cholesterol and other early indicators of heart disease, and that one in every three children born in 2000 will suffer from diabetes. These trends are being observed in most other western nations."
"Society has become so disconnected from its food supply that children now can recognise food corporates' logos like McDonald’s, but many cannot identify vegetables such as celery or asparagus - thanks to the manner in which the food industry controls children's eating habits through massive PR campaigns that aim to establish brand loyalty not healthy eating."
"Industrial food production is unsustainable, relying on dwindling fossil fuel supplies to power its machinery, and irrigation and transport systems. It is contributing to climate change, environmental pollution and degradation, and the suffering of millions of animals. Meanwhile ships carrying identical food product pass each other on the high seas, needlessly shuffling food about in the name of free trade but costing us the earth."
"There is thus an urgent need for a food revolution, to replace the industrialised, factory model of highly processed foods with a sustainable system of organic production, which produces safe and nutritious food that fuels our health, not our illness, food that is properly labelled for consumers’ benefit and ethically traded, with a priority of consuming locally and in-season."
Why We Need A Food Revolution
Sue Kedgley,MP
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Justice Policy - Making Good
Contents
Definitions
Introduction
Vision
Key Principles
Specific Policy Points
- Restorative justice
- Righting wrongs and compensating victims of crime
- Sentencing alternatives
- Access to courts and the justice system
- Maori justice
- Youth justice
- Prison management
- Women in prison
- Independent Prison Inspectorate
- Independent Judicial Appointment Commission
- Domestic/family violence
- Gun control
- Supporting a just society
- Freedom of information
- Privacy and surveillance issues
- Police issues
- International justice
Definitions
Restorative justice has three characteristics:
- The victim is at the centre of the process and the first priority is to heal the harm caused by the crime.
- Community involvement, allowing more appropriate and creative outcomes.
- A focus on getting the offender to take responsibility for what they have done, and take steps to put it right.
Introduction
Justice is about more than how we deal with crime. It is about how we create a fair, peaceful and sustainable world. Our Justice policy sits alongside our Human Rights policy, and our commitments to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, rebuilding local economies, celebrating diversity and creativity, ending violence towards each other and our environment, and ensuring that people's needs are met.
Vision
The Green Party envisions a justice system for Aotearoa/New Zealand in which:
- Victims, offenders, families, and communities are supported in taking an active and meaningful role in restorative justice.
- Crime prevention in the rehabilitation of offenders is as important in sentencing as punishment of crime.
- Human rights are respected and advanced.
Key Principles
- A greater focus on mediation, restorative justice, solutions based approaches, and community based justice.
- Improved access to and participation within the justice system through improved information services and court environments, and through accessible and affordable forums for dispute resolution.
- A holistic approach to dealing with crime aimed at cutting offending and reducing our dependence on imprisonment.
- Our justice system should be part of the way we create a just and peaceful society. An improved approach to justice complements, and is enhanced by wider social justice in Aotearoa/New Zealand and internationally.
Specific Policy Points
1. Restorative justice
Aotearoa/New Zealand has one of the highest rates of imprisonment per capita in the world, and it is growing fast. Despite spending millions of dollars each year locking up offenders, we also have a high rate of recidivism, showing a strong correlation between rates of imprisonment and re-offending. At the same time as failing offenders, the current system does not meet the needs of victims as it fails to:
- Provide adequate compensation for losses suffered because of crime.
- Allow adequate space for the views of victims to be heard.
- Provide support structures for vulnerable witnesses who are often re-traumatised by court processes, despite recent legislative changes.
Our present system is failing. The criminal justice system must be based on what works. The Green Party believes that restorative justice offers a way forward.
Aotearoa/New Zealand has been a world leader in developing and implementing restorative justice. Restorative justice makes the victims' concerns a central feature of criminal proceedings and enables full participation by all affected by offending. The success of recently evaluated programmes in Rotorua and Wanganui, as well as a number of pilot projects across the country, demonstrate that restorative justice works better than traditional court based approaches in meeting the needs of victims and promoting genuine remorse and change in offenders. Although a key part of the youth justice system, restorative justice is still only a small component of the adult criminal justice system. We must begin now to expand restorative justice across the country and build public awareness of the benefits of this approach.
The Green Party will:
- Increase funding and support for restorative justice approaches throughout the criminal justice system, in a variety of cultural and geographical settings.
- Provide institutional support and resourcing for restorative justice after sentencing, particularly in prisons.
- Adequately fund Victim Support to pay for victims to attend restorative justice processes.
- Develop an information campaign about restorative justice processes.
- Monitor processes to ensure that they are truly fair and inclusive, and to ensure outcomes are effectively implemented.
- Extend the problem-solving approach of the Youth Drug Court (which has cut re-offending by addressing substance addiction rather than simply punishing) to other areas of the justice system and in particular youth and criminal areas.
- Establish meaningful consultation with police, prisoners, Prisoners Aid, Howard League for Penal Reform, restorative justice groups, Justice Department, Work and Income New Zealand and the general public when establishing restorative justice policy
- Incorporate the Women's Access to Justice Report (1999) into restorative justice policy
2. Righting wrongs and compensating victims of crime
While the Green Party has worked hard to strengthen victims' rights in the criminal justice system, appropriate compensation and restoration for complainants is still inadequate and the need for reform is overdue. The Green Party wants to strengthen the rights of victims and will:
- Hold an inquiry into the role of victims in the criminal justice system, and into what support systems exist for victims of serious crime.
- Support provisions to deduct unpaid restitution and court fines through the IRD or Income Support and close loopholes to ensure that family or other trusts will cease to be a way of avoiding liability. When offenders receive Income Support (or are of limited means) they should be given a choice to either pay off fines or provide restitution in some other way.
- Research the viability of state-awarded compensation for victims as well as provision for some offenders, when deemed appropriate, to be required to recompense the state for at least part of the compensation outlay.
- Provide counselling and compensation for victims, preferably paid for by the offender, where they have the ability to do so.
- Research the viability of state-awarded compensation for victims where the offender must pay it back to the state.
3. Sentencing alternatives
Though one of the roles of prison is to protect the community from dangerous offenders, our burgeoning prisons do not result from an increase in crime but from a change in sentencing patterns. Judges are sending offenders to prison for offences that incurred a lesser penalty in the past and they are giving them longer sentences. A substantial number of inmates are non-violent offenders. Imprisoning people for non-violent offences is costly and counter-productive, as it exposes them to hardened criminals. It creates serious financial and emotional stress for families left behind, which in turn can lead to criminal activity in their children.
The Green Party will reduce our dependence on prisons and make greater use of alternatives. Research shows that community-based sentences have a significant effect on lowering re-imprisonment and reconviction rates compared to prison sentences.
The Green Party will:
- Support a moratorium on all new prison construction except for the purposes of replacement.
- Increase the range of options available to judges in criminal court cases including:
- The ability to make orders or referrals to social services in order to reduce the likelihood of future offending, and to combine them with penalties.
- The ability to combine orders for community service with other sentences.
- The ability to impose longer sentences of community service, so that the sentence can be used in response to more serious offending without upsetting notions of reciprocity.
- The ability to specifically sentence an offender to home detention as a stand-alone sentence.
- Develop habilitation centres as recommended in the 1989 Prison Systems Review.
- Expand the diversion scheme and ensure greater consistency in its application.
- Establish integrated facilities to work with Corrections, courts, prisons, Child, Youth and Family, counselling providers and police to monitor the rehabilitation of violent offenders and to ensure their victims are adequately protected and supported.
- Ensure sentencing recognises and addresses:
- Mental illness, poor life skills or illiteracy.
- The necessity for diagnosis and treatment of health issues such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), undiagnosed deafness, addiction, nutritional problems etc.
- Increase provision for rehabilitation of existing inmates, focussing on self-recognition and acceptance of responsibility, guilt and remorse, counselling, education, conflict resolution and anger management therapy to prevent repeat offending, and support for teaching non-violent means of expression such as arts and technology as well as work skills.
- Ensure that the probation service is adequately resourced and well connected to other social agencies, so that probation officers can provide better support and monitoring after release.
The Green Party also:
- Opposes the privatisation of prisons, but supports public and private contracting for rehabilitative programs and services such as counselling and therapy services.
4. Access to courts and the justice system
The Green Party believes that people should be actively involved in resolving their own disputes, rather than having an outcome forced upon them. Alongside our restorative justice policies, other decision making processes such as mediation, judicial conferences, and facilitation can increase people's access to the justice system while reducing the time involved in dispute resolution and court costs for all parties. They can even improve the range of remedies available to resolve disputes. The Green Party supports:
- Publicly funded mediation services for civil proceedings. The Green Party will allow courts the ability to refer parties to mediation or further mediation before granting a hearing. The party will also provide a funding framework through the civil legal aid program.
- Eligibility for community organizations and community class actions for adequately funded legal aid in matters of public interest, including Environment Court proceedings.
- An expansion in the number of courts empowered to convene Community Group Conferences to achieve resolution without going to trial.
- Reducing court fees, for private individuals in particular.
Accessible information is vital to participation in the justice system. However, the existing system is fragmented and uncoordinated. Improved access to justice will require improved resources for information and education and the Green Party will:
- Establish a lead agency to provide a comprehensive range of legal information and make that information freely available via community agencies, libraries and the Internet, and ensure that information is available in major languages.
- Introduce the use of plain language into court procedures and ensure that it is accessible and understandable to participants.
The use of advocacy can improve access to the justice system. It provides very useful advice to those using its services, including people who cannot afford legal representation or people who are not eligible for legal aid. However, the advocacy system currently lacks financial and practical support. The Green Party will improve access to these services by:
- Establishing a comprehensive network of advocates.
- Increasing funding for the community law centre network to provide increased geographical and specialist coverage for different areas of law.
- Providing training programmes and national standards for non-lawyer advocates.
The experience of going to court can be confusing and intimidating, and is another barrier to participation in the justice system. The Green Party will:
- Ensure all courts have a staffed information desk visible to anyone entering the building.
- Allow support people to accompany victims and other witnesses when they give evidence.
- Ensure that witnesses and support people in criminal proceedings are able to use a separate entrance and waiting area from defendants.
- Extend the use of other venues other than courtrooms (such as marae and community rooms) in both criminal and civil proceedings.
5. Maori justice
The Green Party acknowledges and supports the effort within the Maori community to develop working models of Maori justice processes. The Greens recognise there is benefit in borrowing from both restorative justice and Maori justice models. Tikanga based justice is as an expression of sovereignty under Te Tiriti and can be a more effective way of reducing re-offending.
The Green Party supports:
- The development of wananga to transmit and extend such knowledge, and funding for the implementation of such processes.
Maori in prisons
The causes of Maori offending are complex, in part due to the typical effects of colonisation. Research suggests that Maori are more likely to be arrested and convicted than non-Maori who commit the same crime. Structural racism within the justice system will be dealt with through our policy on Maori justice processes, restorative justice processes, and other structural changes outlined in our policies. In the meantime, in order to treat Maori offenders fairly and sensitively, the Green Party will:
- Ensure that tikanga and reo programmes, prepared and delivered by Maori, are readily available in all prisons and youth justice centres.
- Facilitate hapu and iwi collaboration in prison management.
- Fund the development of Maori focus units in all prisons and youth justice centres.
- Require prison officers to undergo training to ensure they are responsive to the needs of inmates, including basics such as pronunciation of names or understanding of tikanga.
6. Youth justice
The age at which offenders first enter the criminal justice system is significant, as the majority of male offenders in the adult system first entered the system as young people.
The Green Party will:
- Maintain the age of criminal responsibility at 14.
- Support the establishment of small-scale and dispersed Youth Rehabilitation Centres to end the detention of young people in police cells and adult prisons, and to intensively address serious youth offending.
- Extend the problem-solving approach of the Youth Drug Court to other areas of the justice system. It has cut re-offending by addressing substance addiction rather than simply punishment.
Family Group Conferences (FGC) are the lynchpin of the youth justice system in New Zealand. FGC involves the offending youth, the victims, and their families in decision making, with the objective of reaching a decision by group consensus. The Green Party will:
- Increase funding for training of FGC convenors.
- Ensure that victims are provided with adequate information about FGCs in order to encourage a higher proportion to attend.
- Increase resources for FGC to ensure the adequate monitoring and accountability of FGC outcomes.
7. Prison management
If we are to create a genuinely safer society, prisons need to focus more on rehabilitation and re-integration of inmates into society. We need to provide additional support, including opportunities in education, meaningful work and community participation, to help people to avoid a life of crime.
The Green Party will:
- Encourage inmates to sustain or re-establish family and whanau links by simplifying the prison visit process, providing family visiting rooms, extended visitation rights for parents (ie. allow all day or overnight visits for children of parents in prison in special units, in order to maintain relationships and encourage positive parenting.
- Increase access to education programmes within prisons so that people have the skills to contribute meaningfully to society once released from prison.
- Increase access within prisons to effective drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and mental health programmes.
- Change protocols concerning methadone maintenance within prisons to ensure registered addicts can continue treatment.
- Close Mount Eden men's prison because of the extreme substandard conditions.
The Integrated Offender Management System (IOMS), designed to provide a new assessment tool for re-offending, has faced many difficulties, including higher than expected costs, inadequate staff training, and difficulties matching offenders to courses.
The Green Party will:
- Support the concept of the IOMS, and address the failures identified by its recent evaluation, in particular staff training and access to programmes addressing identified criminogenic needs.
8. Women in prison
While women make up only a small portion of the prison population, their numbers are expected to increase over the next 10 years. Female offenders also have unmet needs, mostly related to inadequate resourcing of facilities and programmes for women.
The Green Party will:
- Undertake a major review of women's prisons to ensure there are adequate facilities, including examining overseas best practice for the design and management of prisons for women.
- Ensure adequate provision for rehabilitation and skill development programmes for women in prisons.
- Ensure that visitation rights for mothers and children are adequate, and that these rights cannot be removed as a form of punishment.
- Establish 'family houses' for pregnant women and mothers to ensure good bonding with infants and continuing attachment with young children.
9. Independent Prison Inspectorate
Recent international criticism and the findings of the inquiry into the Behaviour Management regime indicate that there is a serious problem with the prisoner complaints system. The Green Party believes that prisoners are entitled to safe, secure and humane conditions while imprisoned. If basic human rights are abused, there needs to be a robust and independent complaints system and the state should be held accountable for their actions. The Green Party will:
- Establish an Independent Prison Inspectorate.
10. Independent Judicial Appointments Commission
During discussions on the establishment of the Supreme Court, concerns were expressed about real or perceived bias in the appointment of Judges to our highest court. As a part of Green Party support for the Supreme Court Act 2003 the government agreed to look into the establishment of an independent appointments commission.
The Green Party will:
- Establish an Independent Judicial Appointments Commission.
11. Domestic/family violence
The Green Party is committed to reducing domestic violence. The legal system alone cannot do this. We need to break the cycle of violence that occurs amongst families and against older people.
The most common forms of violence against women are domestic and sexual violence. We are committed to rebuilding strong supportive communities and promoting peaceful relationships from the individual to the international level. We honour and support the enormously valuable work already being done to reduce violence and respond to the harm its causes.
The Green Party will:
- Review, with a view to reducing, the cost of obtaining a protection order.
- Improve the provision of targeted information to women and men about protection orders.
- Fully resource the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act 1995.
- Increase educational and training programmes to deal with attitudes and behaviours that result in violence. Specific target areas would be:
- Schools - where programmes will include non-violent conflict resolution for both boys and girls and examination of societal attitudes towards gender and sexuality.
- Prisons - where we will require mandatory attendance at counselling, stopping violence groups, anger management courses and/or other programmes for people convicted of violent offences.
- Secure financial support for agencies that provide safe houses and refuge for women and children in violent relationships, and other victims of violence.
- Provide free counselling and support for victims of violence, including sexual violence, in addition to that provided under ACC. Ensure information about protecting against sexual victimisation is easily accessible.
- Support programmes in schools such as 'Keeping Ourselves Safe' and the Peace Foundation's Peer Mediation programme to teach children how to resolve conflict non-violently.
- Develop an inter-agency, collaborative approach to domestic violence.
12. Gun control
Guns have a legitimate role in hunting and are necessary on farms. However, the use of guns in committing crimes is a real issue that the current regulations do not address.
Unlike the UK, Australia, and Canada, and despite the recommendations of the Thorpe Report, Aotearoa/New Zealand does not have a gun registration system. A gun registration system and database allows readily available information on what types of weapons are held by those holding a firearms certificate. This aids police investigation of gun-related crimes and provides police with valuable information about guns held on a property they are entering. In order to reduce risks associated with guns and their use in crime, the Green Party will:
- Support making private ownership of fully functional semi-automatic weapons illegal.
- Investigate the benefits and costs of a low fee, centralised gun registration system and database.
- Reduce the licensing period from ten years to five, in line with practices in the UK, Australia, and Canada.
- Review the vetting procedures in the firearms acquisition certificate, to ensure that they are in line with best practice.
13. Supporting a just society
Restorative justice needs to be supported by a commitment to a just and open society.
14. Freedom of information
Access to official information is a cornerstone of an effective participatory democracy. The Green Party is committed to improving accessibility of public information.
The Green Party will:
- Reduce fees charged for public information and ensure that access to information has primacy over cost-recovery.
- Ensure easy access to public information in cases involving public money or resource consents; e.g. we will ensure commercial sensitivity is not used as a smokescreen behind which publicly owned enterprises hide information.
- Ensure that all government information and advice is made available to the public archives after 25 years. The only documents exempt are those specifically restricted or withheld by the Chief Archivist on legitimate privacy grounds. Political embarrassment for the government or departments is not a reason for withholding documents.
15. Privacy and surveillance issues
The Green Party is concerned that privacy is being undermined by intrusive personal surveillance activities such as the greater use of fingerprinting and biometrics for identification and tracking devices, the monitoring of electronic communications, expanded rights to search premises, and the greater use of computer data bases to store and exchange personal information.
The Green Party will:
- Scrutinise closely any increase in state surveillance powers and oppose any that are unwarranted.
- Scrutinise closely any information sharing between different state databases, and oppose those that are unwarranted.
- Oppose the development of a universal identification card or system.
- Adopt the New Zealand Privacy Charter.
- Support the review of the Privacy Act 1993 and the Official Information Act 1982, to improve the public's access to information and ensure that there are effective reviews in place for those who do not receive the requested information.
- Ensure judicial oversight of government actions involving the surveillance of individuals, and also the designation of people as a threat to security.
- Support amending the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 to specifically include a right to privacy.
- Review controls on the sale of private information, and the exchange of information between government agencies, to ensure consistency with the aims of the Privacy Act.
- Regulate the use of tracking devices on products so that they don't intrude on people's privacy.
- Promote and publicise the right of people to see the personal information held on them in state and other databases.
16. Police issues
The Green Party sees the main role of the police as investigating and apprehending offenders and promoting community safety.
As part of this the Green Party will:
- Work towards the creation of an Office of Public Prosecutions to handle prosecutions and manage the diversion scheme.
- Support a dedicated and well-trained victim support unit working with police and other agencies, ensuring both protection and healing (through a restorative justice approach).
- Support a dedicated inter-agency unit to assess and oversee the rehabilitation of violent and persistent offenders.
The Green Party supports a strong emphasis on community policing. Communities and families can assist in both detecting and preventing crime, and in helping rehabilitate young offenders. The Green Party will encourage community policing by:
- Encouraging recruitment of various ethnic groups.
- Encouraging positive interaction between the police and communities by establishing community liaison groups. A community liaison representative, appointed by, and accountable to, the community will be invited to accompany police to callouts, where-ever possible, when guns are present. The representative would act as a witness and provide assistance where appropriate.
The Green Party supports a focus on serious crime, rather than 'victimless crimes'. We will reprioritise resources away from victimless crime (such as cannabis possession) and onto serious crime. The Green Party supports:
- Establishing a truly independent police complaints authority, with adequate investigatory staff of its own, so that it does not have to rely on police investigators.
- A wide-ranging review into police culture, investigation methods and relationships with communities.
- The introduction of a stop/search form, similar to that used by the London Metropolitan Police, to be filled out by police on the occasion of any warrantless search, with a copy for the searchee. This will detail the legal authority and reason for each search and provide information on the rights of citizens in relation to the police.
- The right of police officers to access independent arbitration of their wages and conditions.
- Writing and tabling in parliament, any government instructions to the Police Commissioner.
- Releasing well-behaved prisoners near the end of their term on parole to make police cells available when shortages in cells arise.
17. International justice
International measures to prevent abuses of human rights are central to efforts to create a more peaceful and just world.
The Green Party will:
- Support the continued development and strengthening of international human rights standards.
- Work towards ensuring New Zealand legislation complies with all international human rights instruments.
- Support policies that establish Aotearoa/New Zealand as an advocacy leader that promotes respect for human rights in our region.
- Strengthen the enforcement mechanisms for human rights and war crimes.
In addition, many international conflicts are directly or indirectly about resources. The Green Party recognises that we must share our planet's limited resources fairly if we are to live sustainably. We support strong local communities rich in sustainable work, that judge success by the measure of human happiness and the quality of their environment. Globally, absolute priority must be given to sustaining the world's ecosystems.
The Green Party will:
- Support efforts by the United Nations to ensure an adequate and fair sharing of global resources as part of sustaining our planet.
- Maintain our sovereignty in trade, safety standards, food and health.
- Limit the power of the World Trade Organisation over Aotearoa/New Zealand trade to ensure that New Zealand maintains its own sovereignty.
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Trade and Foreign Investment - Policy Summary
Key Principles
- The ecological limits to production and trade need to be understood and respected.
- We must promote sustainable and just ways to economic development and prosperity.
- Human rights and fair labour standards must be promoted and respected.
- The environment must be protected.
Specific Policy Points
Trade Agreements
- All international treaties must be voted on in Parliament before being signed, must give full effect to our Treaty of Waitangi obligations, and must put the rights of peoples and governments before those of multinational company investors.
- Uphold international labour and environmental agreements through an International Trading Organisation and regional trading agreements to replace the WTO).
Human rights
- Stop importing goods produced by slave, prison or child labour.
- Preserve the right of tangata whenua to protect themselves and their taonga from trade and investment related exploitation.
Ecological sustainability
- Ban trade in GMOs except under strict biosecurity controls for contained use.
- Full labelling of the contents and country of origin of all goods.
- Reduce the introduction of unwanted exotic species (eg by more public education, six-sided inspection of cargo containers, more staff training and technology.)
Just and sustainable production and trade
- A government commitment to 'buy local'.
- Reduce our dependence on imported goods, eg food we can grow here.
- All goods and services produced or sold in New Zealand to meet quality and sustainability standards (eg energy and recycling standards).
- Encourage fair trade with developing countries that support sustainable development.
- Retain or impose tariffs, quotas or bans to stop unfair competition from unjust or unsustainable production (eg forced labour, unsustainable logging).
- Oppose trade deregulation in public goods, services and utilities, and where desirable, roll back GATS commitments.
Investment safeguards
- Land ownership for New Zealand citizens and permanent residents only.
- More stringent conditions on overseas investment.
- A Code of Corporate Responsibility for all corporations in New Zealand.
Monday, April 12, 2004
The newsletter of United Nations University and its international network of research and training centres/programmes
Is regional security the path to better global governance? That's the question underlying a new UNU Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS) research project investigating how regional security affects global governance with particular emphasis on the relationship between the UN Security Council and regional agencies.
"With the world in turmoil over the issue of security right now, there is a need to explore new ways of handling conflict prevention and management," said project directorDr. Ken Graham, of the UNU Peace and Governance Programme. "This is directly linked to the issue of UN reform."
Graham noted UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's recent comments on the need to find "unity of purpose based on a common security agenda with a global consensus on the major threats." Multilateral institutions, Annan said, may not be strong enough to cope with all of the challenges facing them and some may be in need of "radical reform."
According to UNU-CRIS, this reform could involve a more clearly-defined and effective role for regional agencies in conflict management. In the 1990s an over-burdened UN encouraged such roles, hosting a number of meetings with regional agencies and developing a framework for cooperation with a set of guiding principles. But the questions remains whether this has improved the operational relationship on the ground.
Success in reaching a global consensus on modern security issues, says UNU-CRIS Director Dr. Luk Van Langenhove, "depends on forging reconciliation in threat perception and response between the world's various regions."
"While the fundamental interests of humanity – survival, basic freedoms and sustainable development – are shared by all, cultural differences still exist in values and perceived interests," he said. "These differences are broadly correlated along regional geo-strategic lines. It might be that the UN approach to conflict management is best served by close collaboration with regional organisations."
The first report on the project, which is partly funded by the Institute for European Studies (IES-VUB), will be available in a month or so but in January a mid-term presentation was organised at the UN secretariat in New York. Preliminary research results were discussed by the panel of experts pictured below and an audience of about 150 representatives of UN agencies and missions.
Tuesday, January 12, 1999
THE PLANETARY INTEREST Edited by: Kennedy Graham
David Capie
THE PLANETARY INTEREST Edited by: Kennedy Graham Published by: University College London (UCL) Press, London, 1999, 289pp.
In the past ten years the lexicon of international relations has seen a remarkable proliferation in concepts of security. In an attempt to deal with the challenges of the post-Cold War agenda notions of common, co-operative, comprehensive and human security have been put forward. These share a common recognition that many of the security threats that face the world today do not originate from, and are not easily contained within, the territory of a single nation-state. Environmental degradation or infectious disease do not respect national borders. Global warming, nuclear proliferation, the prevention of mass human rights violations -- these are not concerns that can best be dealt with unilaterally. Rather, they point to the need for new thinking about security and co-operation -- and highlight the need for a new conceptual vocabulary upon which to base practical action. It is this kind of reasoning that underpins New Zealander Kennedy Graham's new edited volume, The Planetary Interest.
As its title suggests, the book urges the adoption of a new concept -- the planetary interest -- capable of underpinning a policy agenda to deal with the global challenges that now face the world. Such challenges include climate change, forest management, disarmament and sustainable development. These concerns are discussed by a truly international cast of contributors -- twenty-two authors, from every continent, from micro-states such as the Maldives, to great powers like China and the United States.
Unconventional notions like the planetary interest tend to set off alarm bells for the sceptical practitioner of international relations. The failures of the League of Nations and plans for world government are quickly summoned to mind. But any reader fearing a descent into the naive idealism of the inter-war years is quickly put at ease. The planetary interest is not advanced here as some sort of alternative to the ubiquitous notion of national interest. The authors do not expect the nation-state to disappear overnight, nor do they want it to. Rather, their work suggests that the planetary interest can sit above the notion of the national interest. In a thoughtful introductory chapter, Graham suggests `something concerns the planetary interest if it materially affects, not necessarily uniformly, the planet as opposed to the region or the nation-state alone.' He accepts that `legitimate national interests' should endure, these being those interests and policies `which are compatible with, and do not adversely affect, the interests of the planet and humanity as a species -- both current and future generations.'
But therein lies the challenge for the book. If a world of states is to continue -- at least for the time being -- how are we to make sense of legitimacy? What is a legitimate national interest? Who decides? Gwyn Prins's conceptual chapter is charged with dealing with this issue. He discusses many different sources of legitimacy, but ultimately concludes that what he calls `mandate by extension' will be vital to the planetary interest; that is, legitimacy will, in future, flow `uncontroversially' through existing national institutions which will be simply more conscious of global issues.
But Prins's lament that there is, as yet, no self-conscious culture of global society does hint at how ideas similar to the planetary interest are already being put into place. His approving citation of Allott's claim that `international society is an unculture ... [a] vacuum filled by a culture of primitive capitalism' overlooks the developing normative structure of global politics. The establishment of the idea of humanitarian intervention, the biological and chemical weapons taboo, the prohibition on landmines, and campaigns against light weapons proliferation and the use of child soldiers -- these developing norms are not to be lightly dismissed. They also point to another, potentially more important, source for the development of the planetary interest. Rather than the statist `mandate by extension,' pragmatic, informal transnational coalitions of non-state actors might offer the best hope for effecting norm change across a range of issue areas.
The substantive chapters that follow Graham's and Prins's conceptual introduction are uneven. As might perhaps to be expected when twenty of the contributors are former or serving politicians, there is some tendency towards self-promotion. Claudine Schneider's analysis of the United States features rather too many references to her achievements while in Congress. The habits of campaigning die hard, perhaps, but Schneider's claim that the US president `understands the planetary interest' but the Congress does not, is rather less forgivable. This is a dubious dichotomy: it was, after all, President George Bush who styled himself the `Environmental President' but then refused to go to Rio. Likewise, in his chapter Michael Marshall, a former British Cabinet minister, exhibits a gee-whiz enthusiasm for information technology surely unmatched in contemporary politics. Sadly, his claim that `the ready availability of UN documentation through [the] Internet today allows the public around the world ... to follow UN issues quite closely' seems a triumph of wishful thinking. His optimism also starkly contrasts with the assertion in David Lange's chapter on disarmament that `little hope can be placed in multilateral fora at whose head stands a Security Council which cannot overrule the wishes of any one of the five declared nuclear powers'.
Taken as a whole the substantive chapters contain a useful discussion of a wide range of international problems, from demographic change to disarmament. Indeed, at times the range of issues covered and the depth of the analysis provided is almost overwhelming. The opportunity to hear from some of the less familiar international actors on the international stage (the Maldives, Bangladesh and Kenya) is also especially welcome.
This is a provocative book. While its title might unsettle exponents of orthodox international relations, The Planetary Interest advances a highly original but carefully measured conceptual argument and backs it up with a comprehensive set of empirical studies. It deserves a wide audience in both the academic and policy communities.
David Capie is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at York University in Toronto.
COPYRIGHT 2000 New Zealand Institute of International Affairs
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning
