Summarised by Centrist
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says New Zealanders will have to wait until Foreign Minister Winston Peters speaks at next week’s UN Leaders’ Week in New York to learn whether the NZ government will recognise a Palestinian state.
Luxon told reporters a “final decision” had not yet been made.
He walked away from questioning after saying, “We have committed to making a decision at UN Leaders’ Week and articulating our decision and our rationale for our position and that is when we will do it.”
Labour’s Chris Hipkins said ministers had “clearly” already made up their minds and should “be upfront with the New Zealand public.” Green co-leader Marama Davidson called on the government to “grow a spine, sanction Israel and recognise Palestinian statehood.”
In Johnsonville, nine clergy chained themselves together outside Finance Minister Nicola Willis’s electorate office. “(At) the moment Israel are not listening to the global cries for them to ceasefire and to deliver aid immediately into Gaza,” said Anglican archdeacon Mel McKenzie. The clergy said they would fast and pray until Tuesday.
In Auckland, five clergy who staged a sit-in at Simeon Brown’s office were served trespass notices and left peacefully.
The Coalition of Ministers Supporting Israel in New Zealand said the sit-ins were “mis-guided and naïve.”
The government is expected to announce its position at the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
Read more over at The NZ Herald and RNZ
