Motions — Barack Obama—Election as President of the United States

I move, That the House convey its sincere congratulations and warmest regards to President-Elect Barack Obama on his historic election win as the next President of the United States, and to Vice-President - Elect Joe Biden on his election win, and in doing so expresses its desire to work with the Obama administration to continue building on New Zealand’s already strong relationship with the United States. The election last month of a new President of the United States came at a very challenging time for us all. The world faces an economic crisis and growing threats to the security and well-being of people in many nations. President-Elect Obama and his running-mate campaigned on a message of hope and change. This message was embraced by the American people, who elected Mr Obama as their first African-American President.

Hon Member: What does Bill think?

Hon JOHN KEY: The member will get over it. We congratulate him, wish him well, and look forward to working with his administration. No President has come into office, arguably, with greater challenges and greater expectations than President-Elect Barack Obama does.

New Zealand and the United States are indeed very, very good friends. We have a strong relationship and share many common values. The new Government will seek to build on this relationship in order to further our mutual interests and to promote peace and prosperity throughout the Pacific. In particular, we believe that strengthening trade between our two nations and within the region will have significant benefits for all of our people, and will help our economies recover from the current crisis. With this in mind, we have welcomed the desire of the US to join the P4 free-trade agreement between New Zealand and other Pacific nations, which has extended to become the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership. We encourage the new President and his administration to give added momentum to this process.

The New Zealand Labour Party also congratulates Barack Obama on his election as the President of the United States, and looks forward to the new era in United States’ politics that his election will open up. I also acknowledge the unsuccessful candidate, Senator John McCain. John McCain is a person who I believe is a very decent person, a person of real integrity, and a person who has been a good friend of New Zealand, and he who will continue to be, as a member of the United States Senate. We should acknowledge his contribution to New Zealand - American relations.

What happens in the United States, being the world’s pre-eminent economic and military power, is clearly very important to us, and for New Zealand. A positive relationship with that country is also very critical. There have been some clear areas of disagreement between New Zealand and the Bush administration. Notwithstanding that, the relationship between the two countries has actually moved in a very positive direction over recent years. To quote our ambassador from the United States, Bill McCormick, the relationship is probably the best it has ever been. We have certainly sought to maximise our cooperation in areas of mutual agreement. John Key mentioned the P4 agreement, the trade agreement that I was involved with helping to negotiate. That will be very important to New Zealand, and we have worked closely together where we have perceived common areas of genuine security threat.

What the Obama administration does in coming months to counter the economic downturn is clearly vital to us, and we need to maintain a close relationship and discussion with that country. But I also believe that we will find new areas of cooperation. Barack Obama, of course, was much closer to the Labour Government in terms of Iraq than the current US administration was. We will also, I think, more readily be able to cooperate in areas of disarmament, human rights, and climate change.

I note Barack Obama’s very strong speech promoting a “cap and trade” system for carbon emissions, which I guess is roughly similar to New Zealand’s emissions trading scheme. About climate change Barack Obama said, and I quote: “Delay is no longer an option. Denial is no longer an acceptable response.” What a pity it is that when we have this new administration with its progressive view on climate change, here in New Zealand the National-ACT agreement is offering, in fact, nothing other than delay and denial. I hope Mr Key saw the little note on the front page of the Dominion Post: “John—Obama called looking for allies on climate change. Realised he’d got the wrong number! …”.

The Green Party will join with the other parties in this House in offering its congratulations to the new Obama administration. We think that this Obama presidency will open up a new and better chapter for American and world politics, and we are all looking forward to change we can believe in.

Hopefully, the Obama presidency will provide a broader basis for cooperation with New Zealand on vital global issues like climate change, as Phil Goff has just mentioned, where Obama has promised a “cap and trade” system; on human rights, where he said he will be closing down the Guantanamo Bay hellhole; and in the area of conflict resolution, where Mr Obama is putting talking to countries ahead of dropping bombs on them. Hopefully, in such foreign policy the new administration will go further and accept and embrace New Zealand’s nuclear-free policies, which are a beacon to the world and should not be seen as a restriction on good relations with anyone.

Exactly how far this progressive change under the new administration will go is yet to be determined, because it is a reality that there are also strong conservative forces within the American body politic, and the Green Party does not necessarily agree with the comments of Mr Key and Mr Goff that the response to the global downturn means just opening up channels for global trade and investment. Even more, I think the crisis from the Green point of view is a crisis of under-regulation, not over-regulation. But that said, there is a challenge for our new Government not to get left behind by the Obama administration in making changes for the better. Thank you.

I rise on behalf of the ACT Party to also congratulate Barack Obama on his election as the 44th President of the United States of America. I think that whatever members’ political views are, they could not help but be excited and impressed by that election result in the United States of America. I also pass on our respects to Senator John McCain, who ran a fantastic campaign. Also, I share the hope—I think, of all members of this Parliament—that we have success in the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement and that President Obama does actually keep to a commitment to free trade all around the world, particularly with the pressures that are upon Governments and economies now.

I hope that the new President of the United States will follow the approach, given his campaign of “Change we can believe in”, that we have seen from Prime Minister John Key here in New Zealand, which is very different from what we are used to here. It is one that accepts that people can have differing points of view, that a person is not necessarily always right, and that it is as well to have regard to differing points of view and to hear them. That is what Prime Minister John Key has done with the ACT Party and on the emissions trading scheme, in contrast to what we have seen from the previous Government, under which anyone who had a different point of view from its view was to be shut down, abused, and not heard from. I am proud to be part of a Government that is prepared to hear the arguments, is prepared to hear from the scientists, and does not say that politicians decide everything, but actually has a debate on the issues. I hope the new President of the United States of America will likewise be open-minded, because what we saw here in New Zealand for 9 years had a very chilling effect on the proper debate that should occur about policy. Thank you.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. Tēnā tātou e te Whare. When one enters the Barack Obama website, there is a simple statement that says it all. I quote Barack Obama’s words: “I’m asking you to believe not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington. I’m asking you to believe in yours.” It is a profound affirmation of faith: faith in a future that saw millions of Americans stand up to proclaim “Yes I can”. It is an action of celebration and pride, which has had its ripple effects right throughout the world, including here in Aotearoa.

The motion describes the Obama election win as historic, and it is historic on many levels. Obama will, of course, become the first African-American President of the United States—a fact recognised by the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, who immediately declared a national holiday to acknowledge his Kenyan whakapapa. Indeed, the African-American President-Elect inspires the whole world to celebrate as we collectively reflect on the shame of a history of slavery, segregation, racism, and discrimination—a history we must never forget. Obama has broken through the highest ceiling in the land. What greater statement is that? But he is also the first person of colour to govern a country with a white majority.

For indigenous peoples across the world, the election of Barack Obama has heralded a new dawn of hope that we can find our own solutions. The man named by the Crow Nation as Barack Black Eagle has told American Indians: “You will be on my mind every day I am in the White House”. But his commitment goes further, and, again, I quote: “My Indian policy starts with honoring the unique government to government relationship between tribes and the federal government and ensuring that our treaty obligations are met and ensuring that Native Americans have a voice in the White House. Indian nations have never asked much of the United States, only for what was promised by the treaty obligations made by their forebears. So let me be clear: I believe that treaty commitments are paramount law, I’ll fulfil those commitments as president of the United States.”

I wanted to honour the new President’s commitment to the American Indians as just one of the many attributes that are based on the ideal of creating a better future; transforming the political culture so that it is responsive to the people and not what he describes as the corporate fat cats. Variously described as this generation’s political rock star, there is no denying that Barack Obama is a transformational figure. And although his campaign inspired people like Oprah Winfrey, Bruce Springsteen, and even Colin Powell to publicly endorse him, his greatest wealth, quite literally, lay in the millions of Americans who opened their hearts to come together to heal the divides that have hurt their nation; opened their minds to the possibility of change; and opened their wallets to invest in his campaign.

The Māori Party is proud to stand with the House and convey our congratulations and our best wishes for the Obama administration, and we can do no better than end with the vision articulated in the election night address of the man himself: “The true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.” Thank you.

I want to join with others who have spoken in this debate in congratulating the United States President-Elect Barack Obama on his historic achievement, and in wishing him well as he embarks upon his tenure of office from next January.

Although it does not behove any one of us in this House to lecture the new President and his administration about what their priorities ought to be, lest the burden of expectation that New Zealand places upon them becomes just that much too great to bear, it is nevertheless important to note that this new administration takes office at a time of unprecedented international instability, and, I suspect, at a time when America’s reputation in the world has probably not been as controversial as it is at present. President-Elect Obama faces the challenge not only of healing the United States internally—the political geography of that country is extremely divided—but also of restoring the United States’ reputation in the world and showing that the country, which for long times has prided itself on being the world’s greatest democracy, is, in fact, able to live up to that challenge. I think it is significant that the President-Elect has drawn from his mentor Abraham Lincoln. There is a delicious irony in that, but in terms of Lincoln’s commitment to democracy, to freedom, and to emancipation, the same words and virtues that we see represented in President-Elect Obama give us encouragement about the future.

Although New Zealand will be a side player at the very best, it is important that we enjoy a good and strong relationship with the new United States administration, that we embrace the values that the President-Elect will advance, that we work constructively on the relationship with the United States—politically, economically, and socially—and that we remember he has based his campaign upon the fact that the greatest strength each of us has is the commitment of our people.

I join with others in congratulating President-Elect Obama, Vice President - Elect Biden, Michelle Obama, and the two girls on the challenges that lie ahead. I wish them every success in their roles, and I look forward to the day when the President comes to New Zealand to enjoy the hospitality that I know this country would love to shower upon him.

Motion agreed to.

New Zealand Sports Teams—Successes