Policy | Foreign Relations

MANA believes that the relationships between Aotearoa New Zealand and other peoples and countries must be shaped through manaakitanga and by our ethics of solidarity and our vision for a just future, free from the control of major powers and their corporations.

New Zealand governments send troops to fight the super-powers’ wars in other countries but fail to condemn abuses of human rights, especially of Indigenous Peoples, elsewhere. Free trade and investment treaties are treated as sacred, while Te Tiriti o Waitangi and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples remain unenforceable.

The goal is to re-gain control over our country and ensure that our natural resources, public assets, jobs, and sovereignty is protected – and where Te Tiriti o Waitangi is central in building and negotiating our relationships with others.

MANA policy priorities are to:

  • Uphold the rights of Indigenous Peoples
    • Make New Zealand’s support for the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples unconditional.
    • Work with Indigenous Peoples to develop alternative constitutional arrangements that recognise and protect Indigenous sovereignty.
  • Build just trade and investment relationships
    • Terminate all current negotiations for free trade and investment agreements, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA).
    • Follow the precedent being set by other countries and re-negotiate or terminate investment provisions in all existing free trade and investment agreements.
    • Explore alternative models for international collaboration based on the economics of solidarity, starting with the South Pacific.
    • Require any foreign investment to satisfy a Te Tiriti o Waitangi impact assessment and approval from mana whenua.
    • Introduce a tax on financial speculation, called the ‘Hone Heke’ tax, to restrict speculation on the New Zealand dollar which makes investors rich while destabilizing our economy.
  • Walk the talk in being responsible global citizens
    • Withdrawal of New Zealand military from all countries where they are engaged in combat or supporting roles for externally instigated wars.
    • Terminate all spying arrangements where New Zealand participates directly or indirectly in spying in Aotearoa and elsewhere.
    • Conduct an urgent review of the quota and funding for refugees, including convention refugees, with a view to make significant increases by 2015.
    • Support the struggle for Indigenous rights in West Papua.
    • Support the campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel until it complies with United Nations resolutions and international law by ending its occupation of Palestinian land, stopping discrimination against Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, and accepting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties in Israel.