Chlöe Swarbrick calls on Christopher Luxon to reject Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ as allies turn it down
Tuesday, 27 January 2026
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Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick has written to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon demanding he reject US President Donald Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’.
The invitation to join the controversial board has already been rejected by the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and several other nations New Zealand often allies itself to.
The board’s charter makes Donald Trump its chairperson for life, allows him to veto decisions, and requires member states to contribute US$1 billion (NZD$1.67 billion).
Swarbrick wrote to Luxon on Monday urging him to reject the invite on no uncertain terms.
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“In its first iteration, the Board was already unsuitable for its declared intention of building peace in Gaza. It was established as a mechanism for imposing the will of the United States on Gaza and undermining the self-determination of Palestinians,” Swarbrick wrote.
“It is now clear that Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ has developed into an effort to supplant the United Nations and to further undermine the international system.”
Swarbrick said she had not yet received a reply from Luxon.
Luxon said on Tuesday that the invitation deserved a “proper considered response”.
“We'll make our own decision, as we do, acting in our own national interests, and there's some work to do for us to go through it in some detail. We think it deserves a proper, considered response, and we'll do that in due course.”
Asked about whether the board might replace the UN, Luxon said the UN had its challenges but still had “a role”.
“There's a role for the United Nations to play, but as you've seen, the effectiveness of the United Nations in recent years has been somewhat heavily diminished, and in many ways, because they haven't done the reforms that were needed to keep them relevant and to keep them influential,” Luxon said.
“There's a number of international bodies that have served us incredibly well for 70 years. But in order for them to continue to serve us well, they need to continue to evolve.”
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