The Centre for Strategic Studies and the New Zealand Institute for International Affairs co-organised a conference to mark the 75^th anniversary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the Pipitea Marae on 18 October. More than 340 people attended the day-long event, including the diplomatic corps, many former ministers and ambassadors. Highlights included an address by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon. Winston Peters and a panel featuring two former prime ministers Helen Clark and Jim Bolger.

Conference panels included a special session on Māori and New Zealand diplomacy, New Zealand’s Pacific story, relations with great powers (which featured Victoria’s Professor Robert Ayson speaking on trans-Tasman issues), economics and trade, and a panel on New Zealand and Asia (which included Dr Malcolm McKinnon and Emeritus Professor Roberto Rabel).

In his keynote address, Foreign Minister Winston Peters challenged the claims made by some that New Zealand is living through an era of unprecedented challenges. He said: “It is fashionable to always refer to the current era as being subject to levels of complexity and uncertainty that are unprecedented. But now-ism, the belief that everything that is happening to you is unique, can be a trap. While the pace of change today is unprecedented, the fundamental challenges faced by earlier eras were profound.”

The panel closed with remarks by MFAT staffer Portia Allen, a VUW alumna, offering her vision of where the Ministry needs to be going in fostering an inclusive and diverse culture, how the new generation of New Zealand diplomats plans to advance those goals.

Videos of the entire conference can be found here.