Prime Minister Christopher Luxon must front up and explain why New Zealand failed to back the reappointment of the United Nations’ human rights chief, the Labour Party says.
Foreign affairs officials have sought to portray the decision as purely procedural in nature – an argument one former Prime Minister says is “clearly ridiculous”.
Volker Türk was last week reappointed as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by an overwhelming 144-10 margin, with the United States, Israel, Russia, and North Korea among those to oppose his return.
New Zealand was one of just 13 countries to abstain from voting, alongside the likes of Belarus, Ecuador, Iraq and Uganda.
It appears ministers were not asked for their views on Türk’s reappointment, with a Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson saying officials had made the decision themselves “on the basis that it was a procedural rather than a policy matter”.
“New Zealand’s abstention was not a reflection of any view of the merits of the candidate,” the spokesperson said.
Türk’s condemnation of wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Iran contributed to failed efforts to prevent his reappointment, with the US alleging the UN official had “turned a blind eye to real atrocities and instead pursued a radical ideological agenda”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also faced criticism for pushing through Türk’s reappointment before his own term expires at the end of the year.
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark on social media described New Zealand’s vote as “a new low”, saying the claim that it was purely a procedural matter was “clearly ridiculous”.
Asked by Newsroom why New Zealand had abstained on Türk’s reappointment, Luxon described it as a “procedural issue” and said it was “not necessarily” unusual for ministers to play no role in the process for such a vote, referring further questions to Peters.
Senior Labour MP Kieran McAnulty told Newsroom it was wrong for Luxon to “just brush it off and say it’s not a matter for him”, particularly if the foreign ministry had made the call without briefing ministers.
“If that were true, I would expect the Government to be up in arms that Mfat is making decisions by themselves without consulting the minister. But they aren’t, which suggests to me that they were briefed and they just don’t want to front up about it.”
McAnulty said Türk’s high-profile role, coupled with the volatile geopolitical climate, meant it was hard to believe ministers had no idea about how New Zealand was positioned on a vote of such significance – particularly when Australia and other close partners supported his reappointment.
“To put us in a group alongside Russia and North Korea [who didn’t vote in favour of Türk] is quite a big deal, and for the PM to just simply dismiss it and not want to front up, I think it is pretty unacceptable frankly.”
