Greenpeace Aotearoa
Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon stand up and condemn the illegal attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel.
Greenpeace delivered the petition to opposition Labour leader Chris Hipkins in Wellington today.
Standing on the steps of Parliament, Greenpeace Aotearoa executive director Dr Russel Norman said: “This war is plainly illegal — it is not an act of self-defence nor is it sanctioned by the UN Security Council.
“While we have come to expect that the US government approach to international law is more honoured in the breach than the observance, nonetheless international law is critical for the security of everyone on the planet but especially for a small nation like New Zealand.”
Dr Norman said Luxon was expected to advocate in favour of international law and hence condemn “this reckless illegal war”.
“Silence in the face of injustice is complicity, and thousands of New Zealanders agree that Luxon should be standing up to bullies like Trump, who is attempting to destroy any possibility of a rules-based international order.”
Greenpeace delivered the petition to the Parliament opposition who have been open about their condemnation of Trump’s illegal war.
Fossil fuel price war link
Greenpeace also made the link from this illegal war to the escalating price of fossil fuels.
“This illegal war has disrupted oil, gas and fertiliser supplies, exposing Luxon’s Trump-like obsession with outdated fossil fuels, leaving New Zealanders paying the price,” said Dr Norman.
“Luxon has collapsed the EV market by killing the clean car discount, making it cheaper to import gas guzzling cars. He’s ended public transport subsidies for young people, blocked funding for cycleways, but wants to spend billions of dollars to build new roads.”
The Prime Minister now wanted to expose the country even further to the volatile global fossil fuel market by charging New Zealanders a gas tax to build an LNG import terminal.
“The Luxon government should be investing in renewable energy and the electrification of transport to insulate New Zealanders from energy supply shocks and rising energy prices, as well as cutting climate pollution,” said Dr Norman.
Republished from Greenpeace Aotearoa.
Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz
