Posted by David Gledhill on Mar 13, 2023
David has enjoyed, and is still enjoying a very distinguished career.  From Otago Boys High School, he graduated with first class honours in History at Otago University in1981 and proceeded to complete a law degree in 1984.  After a spell in the Prime Minister's Department he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade where he is now leading the Russia Sanctions Taskforce.  He gave us a full, if discreet account of his career. 
 Somehow he has found the time in addition to his work to be happily married with two adult children, to be the Patron of the Rehabilitation Trust Inc and to have recently completed the Otago Trail Rail.  David first explained the purposes of MFAT:
  • General.  To act in the world to build a safer, more prosperous and more sustainable future for New Zealanders;
  • Kaitiakitanga (guardianship).  This involves meeting global challenges by involvement in the United Nations and other international processes, foreign aid programmes, Antarctica etc;
  • Prosperity.  This involves trade, including opening up markets through free trade agreements, providing information, solving problems, supporting investment, helping the Maori economy and participating in such groups as APEC;
  • Security.  Helping New Zealanders overseas, maintaining security in the Pacific and collaborating in affairs such as space, anti-terrorism and so on;
  • Building influence through connections with partners around the world, including through visits and cultural exchanges, and partnership in the Pacific.
All of the above it also involves work with websites and social media. There’s more information on MFAT’s work at www.mfat.govt.nz.
David gave a brief account of his own career in MFAT which included assignments in Fiji, the E.U., Sweden, Indonesia, both Koreas, Malaysia and U.S.A.  He has also been chief negotiator for climate change and other environment issues and has worked in MFAT’s HR department.
 
Most recently he has also been involved in a cross-agency taskforce for sanctioning Russia after its illegal invasion of Ukraine.  A year ago, Parliament passed the Russia Sanctions Act to enable sanctions to be applied – the first time New Zealand has had this sort of capability.  The government went down this route because the United Nations was unable to take action against Russia because it would simply veto that using its power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.  He explained how international sanctions had been successful in reducing Russia's access to its foreign reserves (about US$300 billion were now frozen around the world from an estimated US$600 billion).  Sanctions were also putting real pressure on Russia’s economy and its ability to access critical items from other countries.  For its part, New Zealand now has a total ban on Russian luxury goods and a tariff of 35% on all its other goods.  Our trade had dropped by around 90 percent as a result.
 
Prior to that David had led an MFAT team dealing with COVID issues.  Among other things the team had been involved, with MBIE and Health, in securing access to vaccines.  They had also helped many people navigate travel during the pandemic, including access to New Zealand for RSE workers and quarantine free travel arrangements with Australia and some Pacific countries.  As a result of New Zealand's strict isolation our deaths from COVID were about 2500 whereas Belgium, a country double our size, had sadly experienced about 34,000 deaths.
 
He commented on the different skills and approaches needed when dealing with societies with somewhat varied values, from the puritanical incorruptibility of Scandinavia to the more personal and individual approach of some Asian countries. He paid tribute to the forbearance of his family, given the travel and absences his career had involved.
 
Finally David wryly observed that he had probably been New Zealand’s worst trade negotiator.  He’d failed to get processes started with Korea and Japan, struggled to make inroads on trade policy with Indonesia, and while he helped get the EU negotiation under way, it was not finished in his time in Brussels.  We know, however, that none of these were his "fault" and in fact the agreement with the EU should, hopefully, soon be in effect.  Good things take time as the Mainland Cheese advert goes.
In answers to questions, he explained:
  • how it could be short-sighted to close the Russian embassy in NZ.  Russia would likely reciprocate. By closing Embassies, we would lose the opportunity to influence the Russians.
  • how New Zealand has a High Commissioner in Commonwealth countries and an Ambassador to all others.
  • how although our defence contribution is less in GDP terms than Australia's at 1.5% compared to 2% of GDP, we have been involved in many areas such as Afghanistan and aid to Ukraine and our forces are still highly respected.
Thank you, David, for a most interesting and enlightening address.
 
David mentioned in his presentation the Rehabilim Trust that supports people with disabilities in Indonesia.  Here is a link to their latest newsletter -   Rehabilim newsletter for January 2023.