Urgent Debates Declined — Iraq—Draft United Nations Resolution

I have received a letter from the Leader of the Opposition seeking to debate, under Standing Order 376, the New Zealand Government’s alleged decision not to support the American-British draft UN resolution. I have examined the media reports on this matter, provided by the Leader of the Opposition. The Prime Minister is quoted as saying it is not that New Zealand would not support the resolution, but that New Zealand could not vote on it, because New Zealand does not have a seat on the Security Council. She then goes on to say that all diplomatic means should be used to resolve the crisis. These statements were made during the course of yesterday morning. They could have given grounds for an urgent debate, but they would have had to be raised yesterday. In these circumstances, there is no particular case of recent occurrence that can justify an urgent debate today. However, as I have indicated to the Business Committee, provided a suitable matter involving the New Zealand Government’s responsibility arises over the situation in Iraq, an application is likely to be successful at some point.