Phil Goff squeezing tomato sauce from the CALM fundraising sauce sachet on to his fish and chips at the 2006 Landmine monitor launch.

The New Zealand Launch was held at the Beehive in Parliament Buildings at 0600 hrs GMT on 13 September 2006. We took the opportunity not only to launch LM 2006 but also to launch an Appeal for funds for the British Mine Action Group who are now clearing landmines and unexploded cluster munitions in Lebanon.

Speeches

The CALM Convenor, David Zwartz welcomed guests and in his speech talked about the Report and confirmed that the information in this report was exhaustively checked and referenced and this provided an outstanding example of how an NGO can provide verification for an international treaty. He drew the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, Hon Phil Goff’s attention to the drop in Mine Action funding by the New Zealand Government quoting from the LM page 81 and asked the Minister for an assurance that this drop in funding will be corrected.

Zwartz went on to say that he acknowledged with gratitude, the support every New Zealand Government has given to CALM and the work of the New Zealand Defence Force that has been supporting demining in many of the world’s worst-affected countries. David Zwartz concluded by noting The Government’s strong stand on controls for cluster munitions and said that as their effect was as damaging and distressing as anti-personnel mines, their use should be made “as unacceptable as the use of anti-personnel mines”.

The keynote speaker was the Minister, Hon Phil Goff, but before he began his prepared speech he said that the reported drop in funding of NZ$ 1.3 was because a number of demining operations had come to an end. This would be fully corrected in the coming year and that the Government fully supported not only the full implementation of the Mine Ban Treaty but also the work of CALM and the ICBL.

In his prepared speech Mr Goff spoke of the humanitarian consequences arising from the use of mines. He spoke of the positive work of the Ottawa Convention and how it was a leading model for how disarmament and humanitarian objectives can be pursued together and can be achieved through partnerships between state and civil society. He spoke of New Zealand’s support for mine clearing operations in five countries and how over the years, 117 New Zealand Defence Force Personnel were involved in mine clearing support in Cambodia.

Mr Goff spoke with some feeling of the serious humanitarian issues created by the use of cluster munitions in Lebanon and New Zealand was taking the lead, along with nine like minded countries in calling for strong and legally binding controls on the design and use of cluster munitions. In closing he paid tribute to the work of the ICBL, the ICRC and CALM. Mr Goff’s full speech is now on CALM’s website.

Hon Deborah Morris-Travers, Deputy Convenor of CALM and the former politician who signed the Ottawa Treaty for New Zealand in 1997, read a statement on behalf of Publicis Mojo. This Auckland based company designed and produced 50,000 tomato sauce sachets as a means of raising funds for CALM to send finance to British Mine Action Group (MAG) who are now clearing landmines and unexploded cluster munitions in Lebanon.Deborah then added her own comments; listing the Gold public relations awards this sachet appeal had won at Cannes and in NZ, acknowledged those who had been working on it, and then went on to describe the situation in Lebanon and the need for people to support the appeal. The sachets were given with fish, chips and salad at the end of the evening.

Guests present

There were 50 people present plus three from the media In addition to the Guest Speaker, Parliament was represented by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon Winston Peters, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Select Committee and two other Members of Parliament. Ambassadors or High Commissioners or their Deputies came from Australia, Britain, China, France, Japan, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, Pakistan. Peru. Russia, Switzerland and Thailand. The Armed Forces were represented by five senior officers including Commodore Bruce Pepperel RNZN, representing Lt Gen Jerry Mateparae, the Chief of the Defence Force.

Others who attended were from Government Departments, NGOs, University and CALM supporters.

While dinner was being served The Minister of Foreign Affairs told me that he was concerned at the number of Pacific nations yet to accede to the Mine Ban Treaty, and he promised the full support of his Department to achieve more accessions.

Media

Earlier in the day there had been a TV interview with Hon Phil Goff and David Zwartz. This was played during the evening news session on the national TV station TV1. A reporter and photographer from the Wellington Dominion Post attended and there was an article and a photo of Mr Goff in the following morning’s paper. We are circulating a press release with sachets for each provincial paper and Publicis Mojo are arranging a news item accompanied by sachets for each regional paper around the Wellington region. You have a copy of the newspaper article. Mary Wareham has sent the ICBL the text of the newspaper article.

Mr Christopher Travers will be sending you more photos. On the marble wall behind the speaker’s lectern there were campaign posters along with photos of the situation in Lebanon today, sent by MAG and printed by Publicis Mojo.

Conclusion

The whole evening was a great occasion to promote the launch of LM2006 and the campaigns of CALM and the ICBL. It certainly got the MAG appeal off to a good start.

John V Head
Landmine Monitor Researcher for the Pacific for LM 2006