Source: Radio New Zealand
Nicola Willis is in Washington DC is attending the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings. RNZ / Mark Papalii
Finance Minister Nicola Willis has promised to be “frank and candid” in her White House meetings overnight, as she seeks clarity about when the conflict in the Middle East might end.
But Labour said Willis’ plan to ask when the situation would return to normal was “naive to the point of embarrassing”.
Willis spoke to RNZ on Thursday (NZ time) from Washington DC where she is attending the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank spring meetings.
She had just wrapped several days of meetings with her counterparts from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany and the Marshall Islands, as well as key leaders at the IMF and World Bank.
Early Friday morning (NZ time), Willis would sit down with one of President Donald Trump’s key economic advisers, Pierre Yared, and separately, outgoing under secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs, Francis Brooke.
Willis said she would stress New Zealand’s concern about potential fuel supply disruption and to reiterate calls for a “swiftly negotiated end to this conflict”.
“I will be frank and candid that we are many, many miles away from the Middle East, and yet the waves of this conflict are hitting hard on our shores,” she said.
“We’ve already experienced a more than doubling in the price of diesel, on which our economy depends. We’ve seen a downgrade in our growth forecasts. We are worried about inflation.
“I will also be asking the US administration for their views on when this conflict will end, and what they think the ramifications for the global economy will be.”
The Post earlier reported that Willis intended to press US officials over when global conditions might return to “normal”.
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Labour leader Chris Hipkins told RNZ that was “naive to the point of embarrassing:”
“The world has changed, and things aren’t going to just go back to normal,” Hipkins said. “We’re going to be dealing with disruption for quite a prolonged period of time. The government needs to be far more realistic about that and show New Zealanders that they have a plan.”
Willis said she would also use her meetings to underline the anxiety of other Pacific nations, which were dependent on imported fuel, given the United States’ interest in the region’s stability.
Asked what commitments New Zealand had made to support its Pacific neighbours, Willis said the government would work with Australia and others to ensure the realm countries – Cook Islands, Nieu and Tokelau – had the fuel supply they needed.
“In the first instance, New Zealand is looking to secure fuel for our own population at home, and that’s why we’re taking extra steps to secure additional commercial arrangements to add to our New Zealand reserves.
“We will also take steps to support the Pacific to ensure that they can access fuel. I’d expect that in the first instance, those would be separate arrangements from those which we have.”
Willis said there had been no discussions with Australia about whether it would need to call on New Zealand’s reserves, nor reason to believe that would be necessary.
She said she had “bumped into” Australia’s Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday (NZ time) and passed on New Zealand’s concern about the fire at one of its refineries.
Willis said all her meetings to date conveyed a “clear and very shared concern” about the economic shock from the conflict, and a consistent view that responses needed to be temporary and targeted.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
