Catherine Delahunty questions the Minister of Foreign Affairs on West Papua
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON (Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs): The member is ahead of herself. The Minister of Foreign Affairs has received no advice on the design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an announcement when a decision on the proposed project is made. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade itself monitors aid projects in a stringent way. There is no project yet for journalists to consider visiting.
Catherine Delahunty: Will he support journalists and a parliamentary delegation to visit West Papua and monitor the effectiveness of the proposal announced yesterday of the New Zealand Police training programme, and if yes, how will he support that?
will
this project include New Zealand Police training the West Papuan police
to stop violently assaulting people who are alleged to have committed
political crime, such as raising the Morning Star flag
Hon
CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The Minister has received no advice on the
design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an
announcement when a decision on the proposed project is made. There is
no project yet for journalists to consider visiting. Catherine Delahunty: After the ambassador's announcement yesterday that the project is starting in September 2013, will this project include New Zealand Police training the West Papuan police to stop violently assaulting people who are alleged to have committed political crime, such as raising the Morning Star flag?
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: The media reporting in the Jakarta Post, which I presume the member is referring to, is wrong. The Minister has received no advice on the design, timing, and funding of the project. There will be an announcement when a decision is made. There is no project yet for journalists to consider visiting. What could be simpler than that?
Catherine Delahunty: Keeping it simple, will he raise the issue of military and police violence against West Papuans at the Pacific parliamentarians' conference in Wellington this week?
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: New Zealand continues to raise the situation in partnership with the Indonesian Government bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including at the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review of Indonesia.
Catherine Delahunty: I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. I appreciate the Minister's answer, but my question was very specific: will he raise this issue at the conference in Wellington this week, the Pacific parliamentarians' conference?
Mr SPEAKER: The Minister may like to add to that, but my interpretation was there is a multinational forum and they continue to raise the issue. But if the Minister wanted to add to that, it would be helpful.
Hon CHRISTOPHER FINLAYSON: As I have said, the Minister continues to raise these issues in various multilateral fora. Whether it will be raised by the Minister at the conference to which the member refers, I cannot say.
Mr SPEAKER: I thank the Minister for that
Related news
- Create a Security Detachment 88 But Pupua out off ControlThe Defence Force must clarify its role in training an Indonesia officer of the notorious Kopassus Special Forces especially given this week's assassination and military violence in West Papua
No comments:
Post a Comment