www.nzherald.co.nz/business/russia-ukraine-war-desperate-plea-for-help-over-2023-ukraine-grain-harvest-declined-by-foreign-minister-nanaia-mahuta/6K3T2RSHAFG3PCYHOZ2O4PEG6I/
Russia-Ukraine war: NZ Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta declines plea for help over grain harvest
NewsWe couldn't get through our own bureaucracy to help prevent grain spoiling and a potential food crisis in Africa and Asia? That kind of seems like humanitarian assistance.
Park the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff, again :/
If Chippy wants to win a few votes, he should sack her publicly. That'd get me back on Labour's side for sure.
Or at least get her to take a reading and comprehension test.
yeah this was my last straw for voting labour, i won't be voting them again until there's some changes made.
Maybe Ukraine just needs to hire one of her cousins.
Like, for instance, her husband, who is also her first cousin.
The Maureen Pugh of the Labour party?
Except no Nat leader will put her as a minister, let alone Foreign Affairs
Im actually 😲. Really.
You are assuming that this is the start of us changing our stance on Ukraine, which may be possible given the likelihood of the PRC supply ordnance to Russia.
Without reading too much into the reasons why, New Zealand does it's fair share on the world stage, but they have been dealt some heavy blows in recent years. I think it's fair to hold back while so, so many people are currently displaced.
You should read the reasons. It's not because of money (only $11m, which is insignificant really). They needed specific machinery which we produce.
this is the crux of the issue (sidenote - you could have you know posted the entire article)
“We work closely with Ukrainian authorities and co-ordinate with the international community to do this,” she said.
“In most cases, the organisations best placed to provide the most effective assistance to Ukraine will be based in Europe with connections on the ground in Ukraine.”
This makes sense, however the request seems exactly the sort of thing we should be doing our best to make happen
I feel there's more details missing in the article - can the equipment not be found elsewhere? Did the company contacted actually want to fulfill the request but is being stopped by govt or is it something else
What steps is this govt taking to be able to setup a "development co-operation programme for Ukraine" and if we had one would the decision be any different?
Yeah you'd have thought this would've been just an absolute PR slam dunk if they were willing to just put a bit of work in.
- Have some officials look into what the best solution is
- Make a big noise of contacting NZ companies and asking for quotes /shipping times
- Wait for the news cycle to pass over
- Decide that it would be better for Ukraine to get stuff from nearby European countries instead and drop the case
stuff the PR, the last thing I want our govt to be concerned about in its support or not of foreign nations (conflict or not) is the PR value
this is a foreign affairs policy issue asking how far or involved is or should our support for Ukraine be and what factors internally and externally are shaping our response - how does that relate to this request from Ukraine to a NZ company
You know analysis and insight you can't expect from the herald
I personally also wish that PR wasn't what mattered in politics but I find that generally it is what motivates politicians.
domestically sure, internationally or on foreign relations policy/issues less so
Think of it this way too, how many months would it take for the equipment to be prepared and shipped, then arrive in Ukraine compared to similar equipment already in europe?
they want them by May - who pays might be the companies biggest concern, hence passing it on to govt given its an aid request not a order
Wonder if that same request could just as easily be filled by Australia too, who produces probably 50x as much wheat as New Zealand does.
they were possibly asked too - in the article it states the company approached biggest market is Australia for this sort of equipment, so I'm guessing something similar isn't manufactured over there
After finally getting time to find the article (lunch break lol), it seems like the foreign minister (nanaia) had to decline because the right partnership with ukrainian agriculture ministers did not exist. That seems like to me an issue the foreign minister should get on top of, whoever it is.
Regardless of that it does not take away the fact of nzheralds clickbait title and misleading blurb in the small free part of the article, which is my main issue considering the plea for help was for machines which were neither harvesting or shipping, but for easier warehousing and storage of harvested grains.
the right partnership with ukrainian agriculture ministers did not exist. That seems like to me an issue the foreign minister should get on top of, whoever it is.
I think this is more of an aside/deflection, as Ukraine possibly has more to deal with than setting up these sorts of things with the likes of us (ie a nation with few ties and with little previous reason for such things being in place)
The warehousing and loading of grain is an integral part of the harvesting and shipping process. Unless you can get the ships and trucks all perfectly coordinated complete with transfer equipment (good luck…), you’re going to need warehousing to bridge the gap
With a bit of diplomatic communication between some of Ukraine's neighbours and ourselves you could still probably get it done. Have them provide Ukraine with their current equipment now and in return we ship them brand new NZ equipment as soon as is possible.
Not a perfect solution but good enough to still enjoy the brownie points in the press for helping the war effort. Also good advertising for the relevant NZ companies.
Doesn't matter, you just say yes.
Would it not be better to just buy machines in europe, then have them shipped from there? I can't read the rest of the article but assuming it's a recent plea, it comes from when NZ is harvesting its own grains. That said it would also be interesting to know actually how many of those specific machines we have, and how difficult or long term it would be until we can get them replaced for ourselves
May would be peak demand for European manufactures of this gear, so asking company's in the southern hemisphere makes sense.
We're not doing much to help, its non violent asistance helping with 3rd world food supply, so it's a non brainer.
Instead, worldwide, we just said no.
And Mahuta would have been ripped to shreds for the government favoring one company without oversight and a fair tender process, even if they were requested specifically. The question then becomes why is that particular company requested? As always, there is more to this than what is printed
And Mahuta would have been ripped to shreds for the government favoring one company without oversight and a fair tender process
why - this isn't a NZ govt procurement process
Yes it is.
EDIT: and if not, what is it? The government doesn't own any MHM Automation Grain sorter/stackers or whatever, so it would be procuring them, wouldn't they? 10 of them? For 11.35mil? Which kinda sounds lie th Ukrainian ministry had already got a quote from MHM Automation
so it would be procuring them, wouldn't they?
Not nesecarrily, as in this needn't go through a NZ procurement process we're not buying them for us, Ukraine is procuring them - it would go through a foreign aid and funding process
Still have to find the best supplier for the equipment and that generally needs a procurement process. Some pre-reqs might be difficult you still have to tick lots of the boxes.
Ukraine has found the supplier... they've just not found someone (us) to agree tp pay the bill
Right but we have an obligation to the taxpayer to check if there's another supplier who can provide the same for less. Anything less would be torn to shreds by the opposition (and anyone with any common sense).
And Mahuta would have been ripped to shreds for the government favoring one company without oversight and a fair tender process
??
There was more than one company capable of meeting the requirements they could easily have run a fair tender process.
Sure but at that point you just set up the development cooperation program or whatever. Which perhaps we should have done. But just do it properly, don't need Mahuta just green stampin government contracts willy nilly.
Hmm harvesting food for humans isn't a humanitarian interest?
..so nz's focus is on humanitarian assistance and military equipment? What military equipment have we sent?
I think we have a herc in Europe helping ferry supplies to that base on the Poland/Ukraine border. Supporting the British training of Ukrainian soldiers at dartmoor. We don’t really have the equipment to send or the means to get it there at scale.
..is that also true of the agricultural assistance ukraine is asking for?
Its an order of magnitude easier to dump old spare military inventory than actually have a project plan to deliver goods and services with urgency. It shows how hollow the support is.
We gave money, some of it via the UK. Click on Military support at the below.
https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/europe/ukraine/russian-invasion-of-ukraine
We have send a bunch of odd's and ends too. Gun sights, body armor etc.
In sort, More than nothing, but less than pulling our weight with our peers, even in population corrected terms.
Personally feel should be doing a lot more. Chile only purchased 22 of the 30 LAV's we had up for sale, and the vehicle's are somewhat similar to the Strykers, being provided by the USA (but ours all have autocannons)
Could be a good opportunity for us donate end of life stuff too. Mistral Anti air missiles, Pinzgauer etc.
Not as good as state of the art stuff of course, but given Ukraine is using civilian utes near the front lines, I am sure they would appreciate them.
We've sent body armor and some other stuff they asked for
but not the Javelins for reasons i dont understand at all
Because Javelins are expensive AF and this country seems to have a pathological aversion to spending anything on the NZDF, plus we barely have enough to let our guys do training with them, let alone give them to anyone else
Most nations are only sending stuff that's surplus to their own defence reserves, in case they need them for something else that comes up. The exceptions are pretty much all countries that border Russia, for whom Russia is the only significant conceivable target.
Everyone else needs to keep enough in reserve to deal with contingincies, particularly because the war is likely to contribute to unrest elsewhere as well (food and energy security, and a vacuum of Russian intervention)
Javelin seems like the sort of thing we'd keep in bare minimum quantities, hence we haven't got any spare to send
We sent some helmets.
This appears, on the surface, to be bloody stupid
Did that horrible woman just thoughts and prayers them?
Nope, full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
Sadly the Ukraine didn't know that if you want a deal with this government a heap of money needs to be paid up front. Perhaps Ma Hooter went to the russians and they paid more to block t.
I remember reading how Ukraine supplies a lot of the world's grain or something? In order to prevent further distabilisation you'd think protecting food supply would be considered humanitarian.
Something something "New Zealand's grocery inflation is caused by international factors outside of our control"
Ukraine supplies roughly 10 percent of the world's wheat.
Yes, before the war it was the second largest supplier of wheat (9% market share) after Russia (25.4%).
Ukraine supplies a lot of the world's grain or something?
Yes, Ukraine has the title of Europe's breadbasket.
It's embarrassing this government won't help another agriculturally strong country especially when they said they would give aid for humanitarian purposes rather than actually fighting the war. I hope someone slaps some sense into her head!
I hope someone slaps some sense into her head!
These kinds of decisions are made by cabinet as a whole, Mahuta just has the job to announce it. No need to go around blaming her personally.
If I've read this right, Ukraine asked the NZ government to buy it $11 million worth of NZ made-equipment, and we said no?
Our allies are donating billions of dollars of military hardware and we're going to stiff them $11 million, all of which is going into our own economy? Supporting allies is how we get international deals and favorable terms - why would we not do little things like this?
The 11 cheap houses worth of material.
Very disappointing
Absolutely! Sending 11 million dollars worth of machinery would have gone a long way to demonstrate to our international partners that we are willing to commit to partnerships, not to mention help avoid a potential famine. That return on investment in itself makes this an insanely good deal. Thanks Mahuta.
Great advertising for high value add local production too instead of just basic agricultural produce
There are always ways through bureaucracy to address requests like this. Even making sure you replied with something helpful, like an alternative contribution, rather than just ‘no this doesn’t fit our plans to help you sorry’. If a Minister can’t find a pathway through a request like this, then they should resign.
The bureaucracy works to facilitate the work of the Minister, not the other way around. The Minister's response just conveys weakness.
Yeah, I really don't think this decision is being made in isolation. I strongly believe there's information not available to the general public that's a contributing factor on this one.
I really hope so. Because on the face of it this looks like a great opportunity for us to help in a way that plays to our strengths, flushed down the toilet for no apparent reason. Someone really needs to step up and explain why we didn't help.
There was... full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
They did point out alternative contributions we were making.
Sure in very general terms - I would have thought something more specific, like an offer to fund a European organisation to procure the gear on NZ’s behalf, would come across much better though. Or, an offer to increase our overall monetary contribution.
I don’t think anything would be good enough for this subreddit.
If we ever end up in a war, I hope we don't have friends like us.
This is what a lot of people forget when it comes to international politics and allies. NZ is that friend who watches someone getting mugged and goes "it doesn't concern me, im going to wait this one out"
While at the same time expects our friends to help us whenever we're in trouble.
This government needs to grow some balls and stand up for our friends/allies.
I'm going to be sick if after a Ukrainian victory, nz politicians pose for photos with Ukrainians, pretending like we actually helped them.
NZ proved we are more than happy to sit back and watch while a foreign aggressor wages war on an innocent country (and no, donating 1 million dollars to the UN doesn't count as standing up to Russia)
Does the paywall article go into reasons why this might have been turned down? Does it get any answers? Or is it conjecture? Cos all I'm reading in the comments is conjecture, and of course vitriol.
Has the world forgotten how to have nuanced discussions any more? I suspect any respnses to this comment will also demonstrate.
I pasted the part of Mahuta's response where she blames MFAT. Which seems strange, because I thought the Minister of Foreign Affairs ought to have a significant sway over the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The only other comments from Mahuta in the article are:
In response to Herald questions, Mahuta reiterated that New Zealand does not have a development co-operation programme with Ukraine and that the Government’s focus at the time of the aid proposal was on humanitarian and military assistance to Ukraine.
“We work closely with Ukrainian authorities and co-ordinate with the international community to do this,” she said.
Seems fine to me then on the face of it. Any ministry is meant to be non partisan so the current government minister is not supposed to be able to just upend everything and bypass the ministry's guidelines and rules... They are effectively just the current chairperson
I imagine when dealing with matters of assisting with another country's trade and agriculture there's a hell of a lot of awkward wrangling that has to go on behind the scenes not least of which to prevent potentially damaging our own agriculture etc... A lot easier to just send military supplies and humanitarian aid.
they've got much bigger problems to deal with though, maybe we shouldn't be so lazy and help them out in areas we can, and anyway this is food that will go off and may cause food supply issues around the world so it's also not just ukraine we'd be helping either
Truth.
What an embarrassment
This is grossly disappointing and a new low for our minister of foreign affairs. Ukraine asked for help and our minister said no.
Even outside of wartime why would this be declined? “Hey can we buy some grain stuff?”. “lmao no”, said compromised Mahuta.
Appalling. The amount of military equipment and military funding provided by New Zealand, even when adjusted for GDP and population, is about the lowest in the world. Quite shameful really.
Just checked. Yup, it’s shameful. We’re second bottom of the table just above Romania: https://www.statista.com/statistics/1303432/total-bilateral-aid-to-ukraine/
And Romania has taken in thousands of Ukrainian refugees so realistically we are the lowest.
We took in a few and they have said it's hard to get a job + have gone back to take their chances.
They have GONE BACK. Bro......when refugees decide to go back to a war torn country instead and refusing our hospitality, you know we have fuck all to give.
Not to mention the general lowbrow racism that affects almost every foreigner regardless of ethnic background.
Another example of a half-assed New Zealand attempt. I think this thread belongs in r/therewasanattempt
Do you have a source for that? I’d be interested to know the details of refugees coming here and then deciding to go back. Surely it’s more nuanced than that.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/478147/ukrainians-in-nz-feeling-like-they-have-failed-refugees
Can correct me if I'm wrong, but this was spread everywhere and I caught wind of it through some people telling me as well.
This doesn't surprise me. NZ is extremely fiscally conservative and would rather 99 ukrainians die in a war zone, than 1 abuse the system and get $350 a week they're not entitled to. Meanwhile MSD and the like will waste tens of billions on consulting reports that tell them they're being unnecessarily cruel to a segment of a the vulnerable population.
I knew it was more nuance than that. Thank you very much for the link.
From the linked article:
Mahi for Ukraine co-founder Kate Turska told RNZ she knew of at least three instances where Ukrainian refugees had struggled to settle in Aotearoa, and had returned.
Her parents arrived in Aotearoa through the visa policy, and they too, had found it tough to get enough support, she said.
"They've mentioned it a couple of times that they might [return] ... They feel that pressure of potentially putting this burden on me, and I keep reassuring them that I'll do my best." She said, being older people, her parents were "quite stressed" around the uncertainty of their future, and found it hard to contribute to their family, in Aotearoa.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Michael Wood said the visa policy "was established on the understanding that sponsors were willing and able to take on the financial responsibility of those they sponsor, including arranging and funding travel to New Zealand, and accommodation and living costs once in New Zealand".
The minister's statement said he was aware some Ukrainians had struggled to settle, and returned, and that he had "regular meetings and communications" with Ukrainian support teams here.
So at least three have returned but it doesn’t say why, exactly. Maybe they returned for lack of support here. Maybe they returned to be with other family. Maybe they returned because they wanted to fight. Maybe they returned because NZ is too different to what they know. It’s too vague to tell and draw a conclusion. Struggling to settle feels purposefully vague in an article. It’s a hot political topic. I wonder what angle they’re going for.
It says Kate’s parents might return because they feel like a burden since they’re older and can’t contribute to their own needs under her care. That seems very specific. Maybe that was how the others felt too? Again, who knows.
Oh wow.
You've failed to factor in the sheer quantity of #aroha we've sent over.
I'm not saying we shouldn't be doing more, but SOMEONE has to be lowest in the world, and it makes sense for their european neighbours to be spending more than a country on the other side of the world. Note also that the east asian countries have a vested interest in military invasions being unsuccessful and seen as not worth pursuing.
Yeah people seem to be overlooking geography here, alongside the fact that… our military is tiny, our military spending is tiny. We don’t have a lot of military resources within our own country let alone to send out to others.
Geography plays very little role. Australia, for instance, are significantly further up the order is the link provided. They have provided more humanitarian and military aid per gdp than us by a significant margin.
Furthermore, NZ needs to be a good ally because we don't have the military resources. Our foreign affairs efforts directly contribute as a prevention strategy for other nations to try influence us via military means ie blocking trade routes
It is within our control to do more, and there are road blocks, however geography is a very minor reason for why we aren't
Nanaia Mahuta should resign in fucking disgrace for this, nato are basicly arming most of the Ukrainian army but we can't give them some farm equipment over a technicality?
As a Ukrainian Kiwi, very disappointed to read this but hope there is more to the story and a solid reason behind this decision.
There was, full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
This is so shameful to us as a country and what a pathetic excuse.
Mahuta is shameful to our country and a pathetic excuse FTFY
Why the fuck is she the Foreign Minister? She's bad enough on a national stage.
She's making Winston look good with this callous bullshit.
Probably to cultivate the image of a super socially progressive new zealand on an international stage. I mean, people who actually live in New Zealand know that it is not particularly progressive, especially not socially
NZ doesn't have a capable military. We're too small to offer anything significant, and we're a market based democracy where it would never be socially acceptable to spend a significant amount of our GDP on military.
This creates an issue: what is our strategy towards our own protection?
Options would include but not limited by: compulsory conscription, Cadre systems and social conditioning, nuclear armament, or being a good ally.
We have utterly failed to support our allies on the world stage when it comes to the Ukraine war. If this leads to food shortages, worldwide inflation increases, so we will see a lower quality of life and the poorest nations in the world will experience real suffering.
The lack of will power shown by Mahuta and the current Labour government to be a good ally makes it far harder for us to request and receive help in the future from our allies if we ever face military pressure from a bigger country.
Mahuta needs to resign for her failure to understand the basics of NZ's defence and foreign affairs strategy, by being internationally unsupportive and uncooperative when it comes to the war in Ukraine.
We have 300 javelin missiles/launchers that Ukraine desperately needs, that we (realistically will never use) that will be replaced in the next 3 years due to expiring rocket fuel.....
We decided to tell Ukraine to go fuck themselves rather than donate them to the cause. Fuck we are pathetic.
Well put, fully agree
I am appalled, wavering on support for Ukraine is red line issue for me. The article seems pretty clear the Minister allowed petty bureaucracy to get in the way of fulfilling a pretty simple request.
Oh my, that is so very very dissappointing. She needs to go.
Well. That’s embarrassing, and just further reinforces our limpdick response, we like to talk a big game though.
Actually the most embarrassing New Zealander of the 21st century. Fuck off
Has Nanaia become just another Gerry? A minister destined to spoil everything she touches.
Nah-nah Mahuta
Hopefully it'll turn into Na-na-yeah Mahuta in this instance.
It isn't her family, so I doubt it.
This person is beyond useless.
If this request came from a trusted source, this was an opportunity for little NZ to step up. Ukrainianes are sacrificing so much to defend democracy on behalf of us in free nations. How much is freedom worth ?
Mahuta the looter strikes again.
I just can’t understand at this point how she is still employed?! She fucks up everything she touches.
We simply have a widespread problem of incompetent management at the head of Ministries. These Ministers in this govt have either never been in charge or anything, or never been in charge of anything where results matter. So they don't know how to direct people or projects, and then we end up with a fuckup like not helping Ukraine with a reasonably simple request.
Worthless, corrupt waste of space. Election can't come soon enough.
Shameful decision.
FFS Mahuta!
Mahuta did the right thing by stopping a NZ company grifting off the war.
full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
The Ukrainians should have claimed to be long-lost relatives of Mahuta and their wishes would have been granted.
I can kind of understand that if the framework isn't there than it isn't there. Development co-operation programmes, I imagine, take some time and a deep level of interaction to create. Still, it does rather seem like you could squeeze it in under the 'humanitarian aide'.
Would it be hard to create a basic framework? Like a Support Ukraine Act that allows MFAT to spend up to some amount on non-military support for Ukraine with ministerial or cabinet approval for spending items? I don't know how complicated this kind of stuff is in government, but it's hard to imagine there being significant parliamentary opposition. I also assume government can move quickly when it wants to given we were able to allocate $12bn a month into Covid.
I have absolutely no fucking idea. By and large I've been quietly happy with our assistance to date and there has in general been a willingness to do what we can where we can - who knows in this case though, perhaps we're balancing domestic concerns as well. It would be a shame if it is purely a bureaucratic issue - but I probably won't be joining in the weird pile on in either case.
Would it be hard to create a basic framework? Like a Support Ukraine Act that allows MFAT to spend up to some amount on non-military support for Ukraine with ministerial or cabinet approval for spending items?
Normally, no.
With the incompetence of this Government to create anything, yes.
I can kind of understand that if the framework isn't there than it isn't there
If our bureaucracy is too inflexible to allow us to help, that isn't 'understandable', that's a big red flag that we need to streamline these things.
Given how heavy our agriculture industry is I'm surprised we didn't jump on this opportunity tbh.
Forget the development cooperation programme, just buy the damn equipment and send it. It'a practically petty cash on the government scale, and a lot of it would be going back into our economy anyway.
Yeah I'm actually ok with Mahuta NOT just giving 11mil to one company without due oversight. Not saying we shouldn't do it, just saying we should go through the proper channels.
Sounds pretty bad on the face of it. I feel there is something missing though.
there was. Mahuta did the right thing by stopping a NZ company grifting off the war.
full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
This is just disgusting. Only offering humanitarian aid, but not THAT humanitarian aid.
Hard to defend NZ's reputation with our western allies when we treat them like this.
as a small nation we should be eager to help, unless we want to be on our own if something were to happen to us. maybe hyperbolic, but still, natural disasters could be a more realistic thing we might need support through
edit: forgot a sentence
Who needs enemies when you have friends like NZ...
That is fucking bullshit.
They should have asked for it via one of her relatives...
We'd rather ship food in at enormous expense than give them the tools to continue feeding themselves (& many millions more).
This decision probably contributed to as many future deaths (from starvation) as this senseless war has caused.
Fucking disgrace. That's like 3 or 4 kiwibuilds to help out a country getting invaded illegally on top of the value of helping Allys which helps with international deals.
Man what the fuck, how hard is it to send some machinary to help feed people. Ukraine is one of the bread baskets of the world.
I've come to the conclusion that the current Labour MPs are incompetent political cowards.
Next time we're unable to get flour anywhere, we'll at least know who to blame
And this is why I am an avid advocate for "Hire the best person for the job". She needs to be removed immediately.
They wanted the NZ government to pay for the silos, transport to Czech Republic, then Lviv, Ukraine, and (probably - it's not stated) assembly on a site somewhere else in Ukraine.
That's the way I read it. It was a request for quite a lot of money, and, reading between the lines, made outside the conventional channels direct to the NZ company. A total of NZ$20m, I'd guess.
Anyone else any other interpretations?
Mahuta:
We work closely with Ukrainian authorities and co-ordinate with the international community to do this,” she said. In most cases, the organisations best placed to provide the most effective assistance to Ukraine will be based in Europe with connections on the ground in Ukraine.
GTFO with your rationale take!
BuT MahUTA mAOrI wOMAn!!!
more lines to read: Mahuta did the right thing by stopping a NZ company grifting off the war.
full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
Mahuta is truly an embarrassment
Chris Hipkins this morning made it sound like this story is not as straight forward as we all thought + Herald was full of shit.
1) Christchurch Firm approached Ukrainian gov saying "We can do this for you.. and NZ gov will pay!"
2) Ukranian Gov said "Awesome!"
3) NZ gov said to the Chch firm "Ugh who are you?"
4) NZ gov said they need to go thru the correct channels and NZ is willing to help more.
This whole misrepresented issue has generated so much faux outrage (with some racism and misogyny) from the usual right wing bootlickers on this sub.
She must get so irritated when pesky foreign affairs get in the way of her Three Waters scheming.
Absolutely disgraceful.
We should be doing everything possible to help. This makes me ashamed. Completely ridiculous that we can't help because there is no official agreement.
This is war, we could have made a huge impact but Mahuta seems to not care.
Mahuta the right answer is yes.
Holy shit her decision making is absolute garbage. How on earth do you manage to fuck it up even when the correct decision is to help Ukraine?
It is embarrassing how little NZ has given to Ukraine.
Honestly. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
How many times now have we seen the government supply aid for Ukraine, only for kiwi’s to say they should be focused on local issues instead?
Not many times, just occasional ignorant people often who don't contribute anything themselves anyways.
I haven't seen that at all.
Check Facebook or listen to National voters at a dinner table.
So nobody important than?
Exactly
Wo. As if we don't give aid other ways.
Stop ragging on mahuta for the sake of it.
We give basically fuck all compared to other countries, even on a per-capita basis. Agricultural equipment isn't even military support; it should've been a no-brainer.
0.01% gdp vs ozzies 0.03% gdp
She’s a shit politician and deserves the criticism.
Turns out... you're wrong, we do next to fkall.
Her decision is not a good one
Weirdly she has also just been to India which are pretty much supporting the Russians through continuing to purchase their energy. Seems a bit fishy really.
Or it could be to do with China who are also supporting the Russians and are our largest trading partner.
Really. Ever heard of John “there is no genocide in Xinjiang” Key? What about the National donations scandal. National are the party that, more than any other, made our economy far too dependent on dairy exports to China? You ever heard of Jian Yang, the National MP who used to work for the Chinese security services and refused to answer questions in that matter. Tell me about Labour’s links to China.
Haha
LOL, omg LOL
And the dodgy deal Judith Collins husband did..
Gotta get energy somewhere. People die if you don't.
People also need grain
Oh fuck yeah love a good China/India conspiracy
Hmmm yet they can afford to give the mongrel mob 3 million??
Mahuta did the right thing by stopping a NZ company grifting off the war.
full details now show it was not Ukraine asking but a NZ company approached Ukraine as said 'you want our machines, we will ask the NZ government to pay for them'.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/russia-ukraine-war-prime-minister-defends-declined-plea-for-help-over-grain-harvest-says-there-are-processes-to-follow/VBMVRY4PQBATVAFPSKEMRNC7GM/
The Herald thinks I'm going to pay it $1.50 a week to read it's shitty articles that it mostly just copies from other sources? Fuck off, Herald.
Fucking spineless. I hope she doesn't expect help when we're under the gun
UPDATED: Posted full-text of article since it is difficult x-post full-text when posting from a mobile and was away from desktop until now.