Date: Wednesday, 13 September

Time: 5:30-7pm

Where: Victoria University of Wellington Pipitea Campus, 33 Bunny Street, Pipitea, Wellington AND online

The political season is upon us and we want to ensure that women’s voices and concerns are both seen and heard in foreign policy.  We invite you, your family, friends, colleagues and networks to buy tickets and share the upcoming Feminist Foreign Policy Political Panel Event - there is an in-person (Wellington) and online ticket option - available at https://events.humanitix.com/political-panel-feminist-foreign-policy.

You will not be disappointed.  We have a stellar line-up: 

• The current Minister of Foreign Affairs: Nanaia Mahuta, Labour MP for Hauraki-Waikato, a mana wāhine who is the first woman to be officially appointed as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Helen Clark held the post in an acting capacity in 2008).  Nanaia brings a fresh perspective and indigenous world view to the world of foreign affairs - supporting intergenerational wellbeing, peace and prosperity for all is at the heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s foreign policy.  The Labour Party has included trade, investment and climate action within their election priorities.  “These extraordinary times require an approach to Aotearoa New Zealand’s foreign policy that is anchored in our values and grounded in the principles of partnership and mutual respect. We can draw hope and encouragement from the principles embodied in our founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Our sense of identity, place and connection is inextricably linked to the Pacific and the enduring relationship with our traditional allies.”
• Dedicated and experienced National MP, Gerry Brownlee, who previously held the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in 2017 and has held various senior leadership positions in the National Party, including Deputy Leader.  Gerry Brownlee is the foreign affairs spokesperson for the National Party and currently holds the title of “Father of the House” as the longest serving MP in Parliament.  The National Party has a focus on trade and investment in their election priorities, and Gerry Brownlee has also spoken about the role of New Zealand in the Pacific, working alongside traditional allies. “It’s important that we know what Pacific nations are thinking and reassure them that we are a willing and able partner. The only way we are really going to be able to do that is to get in front of people face to face.”
• The talented and vocal Golriz Ghahraman, foreign affairs spokesperson for the Green Party.  Golriz brings lived experience to the foreign affairs portfolio as a child asylum seeker and the first refugee elected to the New Zealand Parliament, and with a previous career working as a lawyer for the United Nations. “The Green Party supports an international rules-based-order that protects and restores the environment, upholds fundamental human rights and international justice, and acts in unison in a responsible and non-violent manner to support peace globally… We recognise:
  • The unprecedented scale and urgency of the ecological crises facing our nation and our planet.
  • The large and growing scale of local and global inequalities and their role in the ecological crises we face.”

We are fortunate to have the well-respected journalist - the very talented Susie Ferguson - as the Chair for this political panel event.  Susie worked in Britain for broadcasters, including the BBC. She has reported and presented from around the world including Iraq, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, Mozambique and the Balkans. Stories she's covered include the Iraq War and the Boxing Day tsunami.  Susie is well known locally as the presenter on RNZ National's flagship news programme Morning Report for eight years. She stepped down in 2022 to pursue a new role as Senior Journalist and Presenter at RNZ, which sees her working on special projects and presenting programmes across RNZ National.

Topics to be covered at this Political Panel event are likely to include climate change, the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals and other international treaties, the women and peace agenda, the situation in the Ukraine, online harm and technology-facilitated gender-based abuse and harassment, priorities and risks in foreign affairs, and the role of women during pandemics and recovery.  

Please share this link for the event broadly through your networks: https://events.humanitix.com/political-panel-feminist-foreign-policy 

This event is co-hosted by the International Action Hub and the Wellington Branch of the National Council of Women of New Zealand, Business and Professional Women New Zealand and Graduate Women New Zealand.  

For more information, contact the Convenor for the NCWNZ International Action Hub, Eva Hartshorn-Sanders, at [email protected] 

To read more articles from The Circular (July-August 2023) issue 642, click on the tag below.