Q11: Will you sign the Parliamentarians' Declaration calling for a tough Arms Trade Treaty?

Currently steps are being made towards negotiating a global Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) and a treaty prohibiting cluster munitions.  An international Parliamentary Declaration calls for governments worldwide to move quickly towards these negotiations

Question to candidate - Will you as a Member of Parliament add your signature to the Parliamentarians' Declaration which calls on governments to move quickly towards the negotiation of a tough Arms Trade Treaty?

ACT PARTY
Beryl Good (Rodney) - Yes.

Frances Denz (List) - No.

James Read (List) - (No answer provided).

Ron Scott (Tauranga) - No - Conventional arms are required to protect nations from others' incursions.

Hilary Calvert (Dunedin North) - Don't know yet.

Colin du Plessis (Ohariu) - Yes.

Nick Kearney (Northcote) – Yes.

Duncan Lennox (Tukituki) – (No answer provided).

Athol Mc Quilkan (Maungakiekie) – Yes – Stop producing them and then no trouble, I feel strongly that weapons for killing humans is quite amoral.

Matthew Gardiner (Wigram) – Yes.

Chris Albers (New Plymouth) – Yes.

Ted Howard (List Only) – No – Not without seeing all the details.  With any system - the devil is in the detail.  With 22 years of designing and building very complex computer systems, it is a lesson that is firmly set in my neural network and the memory below it.

Kathleen McCabe (Mt Albert) - Yes.

Jonathan Olsen (List) - Yes.

Shane Atkinson (Wairarapa) - Yes.

John Thompson (Papakura) - No.

Clint Heine (List) - No. I can not sign anything before I know all the facts.

Carl Freimann (List) - Yes.

ALLIANCE
Kay Murray (Dunedin South) - Yes.

Victor Billot (Dunedin North) - Yes.

Kelly Buchanan (Ohariu) – Yes.

Robert van Ruyssevelt (Te Atatu) - Yes.

Matthew Stephen (List only) – Yes.

Thomas O'Neill (Tukituki) – Yes.

Jen Olsen (List only) – Yes. I believe, as do many members of the Alliance, that modern methods of warfare, directed at civilians and using what I would call terrorist-style attacks on innocent people in an attempt to demoralise an opposition to a technologically advanced enemy, should be opposed as strongly as possible with peaceful means.  The use of an effective treaty with world-wide sanctions against those who break existing treaties/agreements and universal condemnation of the use of war for political or any other ends, would be a minimum for action, in my opinion.

AOTEAROA LEGALISE CANNABIS PARTY

Kevin O'Connell (Auckland Central) - (No answer provided).

BILL AND BEN PARTY

DEMOCRATS FOR SOCIAL CREDIT

DIRECT DEMOCRACY PARTY

FAMILY PARTY

GREEN PARTY
Lynette Vigrass (List only) - Yes. It is our aim to develop rational and equitable responses to global problems based on ensuring the well being and survival of present communities and future generations.  Our charter has Non-Violence as one of its four principles - the promotion of peace is obviously at odds with the international arms trade.

Gareth Hughes (Ohariu) - Yes.

Virginia Horrocks (Hutt South) – Yes.

Michael Woodcock (Wairarapa) – Yes.  I do not expect to be an MP, but one of the reasons I'm a Green party member is that our charter says that non-violent conflict resolution is they way all issues should be resolved.

Quentin Duthie (Tukituki) – Yes. I believe in non-violent conflict resolution, and the strict regulation of arms. I have experienced time in developing countries where a military presence is overt, and realise how comparatively safe NZ is. We have an obligation to our children to make NZ safe, and to children everywhere to make the world safer.

Zachary Dorner (Pakuranga) – Yes. I have been doing activism for Amnesty International since I was 14, and fully support the Control Arms campaign. If I came to a position of power or standing in the community I would not hesitate to lend my name to the campaign (as I have done in the past), which is an incredibly important one for reducing global violence.

Mojo Mathers (Christchurch East) – Yes. I am appalled by the massive destruction done by war around the world and will support any measures towards peacemaking and peace keeping that will see improved peace for war torn countries.

Keith Locke (Epsom) - Yes, as a Green Party MP I have signed the Parliamentarians’ Declaration calling on governments to move quickly towards the negotiation of a tough Arms Trade Treaty. The lack of control of small arms is an issue requiring urgent action and governments must be addressed urgently, at all levels.

Kath Dewar (New Lynn) - Yes, were I to be elected I would be proud to sign the Declaration. The arms trade allows corporates in the wealthiest nations to profit from the death and injury most commonly experienced in the poorest countries. The current lack of control, and level of implicitly sanctioned war-profiteering that results, especially of small arms, is shameful.

Kevin Hague (West Coast Tasman) - Yes. The Green Party's commitment to non-violence is non-negotiable (it's one of our Charter principles) and we are always looking for ways to give effect to our Charter principles.

Mikaere Curtis (Tamaki Makaurau) - Yes.

Donna Wynd (Manukau East) – Yes.

KIWI PARTY
Gordon Copeland (Rongotai) - Yes.

LABOUR PARTY
Russell Fairbrother (Napier) - Yes.

Jordan Carter (Hunua) - Yes. If elected, I would review the Declaration and would intend to sign it.

Rajen Prasad (List) – Yes. I intend to continue my support for human rights that guided my position as Race Relations Conciliator and Human Rights Commissioner from 1996 to 2001.

Kate Sutton (Epsom) - Yes.

Renee van de Weert (King Country) - Yes.

Phil Goff (Mt Roskill) - Yes. See answer to Q10.

Martin Gallagher (Hamilton West) - Yes, I  have added my name to the declaration. My role as Chair of Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Select Committee brings me into contact with many domestic and international organisations which feel strongly about New Zealand's key advocacy role in international arms control. I believe that our country can act as a 'norm-shifter'; that our voice on the international stage can initiate global change. This has been the case in the past, for example our stance on nuclear weapons and landmines. This year the focus has shifted to cluster munitions, an ongoing campaign for our Government. An overarching treaty on arms trading will prove challenging and may take some time to finalise, due to the nature and variety of small arms which proliferate today, and the ambiguity which surrounds their use. However, global political pressure is the first step in creating a binding consensus.

Paul Chalmers (Whangarei) - Yes. I have every chance of becoming an MP in about 25 years at the current rate - however, I support your organisation and all it stands for.

LIBERTARIANZ

MAORI PARTY

Tariana Turia on behalf of all Maori Party Candidates – Yes.

NATIONAL PARTY
Policy response On Behalf of all National Candidates - Any such treaty must not infringe on the rights of legally vetted firearms owners in New Zealand.

Cam Calder (Manurewa) - Yes.

NEW WORLD ORDER
 
NZ FIRST

NZ First Policy Response - Yes. We will never conquer poverty and hunger until we actually do turn our weapons into plough shears.

NZ PACIFIC

PROGRESSIVE
Policy response On Behalf of all Progressive Candidates - Yes.

REPUBLIC OF NEW ZEALAND PARTY

RESIDENTS ACTION MOVEMENT

UNITED FUTURE 
Policy response on behalf of all United Future Candidates - Yes.

Robin Gunston (Mana) - Yes - As long as I had the freedom within the caucus to do this, I think this is very much a personal issue but given the values that underpin UF policy I am sure that such a collective support could be achieved in time.

Ian Mc Innes (East Coast Bays) - Yes.

Brian Ward (Rangitata) - (No response provided).

Vaughan Smith (Wellington Central) - Yes.

John Pickering (Ilam) - Should I be elected, I'd be happy to read this and sign if appropriate.  I take the view that tough limits on the arms trade are needed, though I would not like to see a minority be trampled on by others because they are unable to defend themselves.

Karuna Muthu (Rongotai) – Yes. Our country has a unique opportunity to be a world leader and carve a niche. Unlike the so called neutral countries such as Switzerland we are not a major arms and military trade player in the world.

Judy Turner (East Coast) - Yes.