Kiribati Government defends Winston Peters trip snub, but the Deputy PM isn’t buying it

Foreign Minister Winston Peters intended to travel to the capital, Tarawa but was advised about a week before his arrival that the President and foreign minister were no longer available to meet with him. NZME photograph by Mark Mitchell

Kiribati has defended its last-minute decision to call off a meeting between President Taneti Maamau, Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau and Foreign Minister Winston Peters, a snub that prompted New Zealand to put its aid for Kiribati under review.

Peters had intended to travel to the capital, Tarawa, this month, but was advised about a week before his arrival that the President and foreign minister were no longer available to meet with him. Peters found this disappointing because the visit was to be the first in over five years by a New Zealand minister to Kiribati and was the result of a months-long effort to travel there.

Peters’ office warned the “lack of political-level contact makes it very difficult for us to agree joint priorities for our development programme, and to ensure that it is well targeted and delivers good value for money”.

“That’s important for both the people of Kiribati and the New Zealand taxpayer”.

Kiribati pushed back on the “snub” Education Minister Alexander Teabo in a statement said Maamauu had a “significant historical event” on his home island and could not receive Winston Peters.

But Peters did not buy that excuse, saying “It was the President who set the date 21, 22 of January, now if he set the date then how can the pre-booked statement be correct?”.

The funding placed under review is significant. New Zealand’s development cooperation with Kiribati totalled $102 million in the period 2021-2024, with investments in health, education, fisheries, economic development, and climate resilience.

New Zealand is a significant contributor to Kiribati. It was the second biggest contributor of aid to the country over the years 2008-2022, contributing 16% of all aid, according to data complied by Australia’s Lowy Institute.

However, China has been upping its presence in the region in recent years and its spending after it switched its diplomatic recognition to Beijing in 2019. China was the largest spender in Kiribati in 2021 (New Zealand was third) and the third largest in 2022 (New Zealand was fifth).

Peters was reluctant to get into the matter on his way into the House on Tuesday, saying the issue was so complicated he would rather put what he had to say “in written form”.

He was keen to let it be known he was treading carefully and not making decisions until the review was complete.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins said that while he was supportive of much of the effort Peters had made in the Pacific, he was concerned at the threat of escalation.

“I think we should be focused on building the relationship with Kiribati.

“I don’t think a tit-for-tat ‘If you’re not going to meet with us when we want you to then we’ll threaten to cut your aid’ approach is going to lead to a constructive outcome,” he said.

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.