NZ, Philippines To Sign Military Agreement
Ms Collins will travel to the Philippines today to sign the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, which highlights the importance New Zealand places on working closely with our partners.
Minister of Defence
New Zealand and the Philippines will this week sign an agreement to enable the two countries' militaries to work more closely, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.
Ms Collins will travel to the Philippines today to sign the Status of Visiting Forces Agreement, which highlights the importance New Zealand places on working closely with our partners, she says.
'It formally sets the legal framework for engagement between our respective militaries, better facilitating ongoing cooperation, activities and exercises in each of our territories.
'The agreement follows a commitment made by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr during Mr Luxon's visit to Manila last year.'
It will now undergo a final ratification process in the Philippine Senate.
While in the Philippines, Ms Collins will meet with the President and hold a bilateral meeting with counterpart Gilberto Teodoro, the Secretary of National Defense.
'We are committed to reinvigorating our security relationships, to playing our part, and working with regional partners such as the Philippines to uphold the international rules-based order,' Ms Collins says.
Ms Collins returns to New Zealand on 2 May.
Notes:
The Status of Visiting Forces Agreement is a treaty-level document that sets out the legal conditions for military cooperation between our countries, including the responsibilities and obligations on both sides.
This agreement with the Philippines builds on two previous agreements that provide for practical defence cooperation, the Mutual Logistics Supporting Arrangement (2024) and the Defence Cooperation Arrangement (2012).
New Zealand has a number of similar agreements, the most recent being one signed with Fiji in 2023.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- NZ Herald
Enemy of the state: Former senior government minister targeted by Russian ‘patriots' over Ukraine war stance
Former senior government Minister Ron Mark has been targeted by a pro-Russian website outing those its authors claim are enemies of Russia. A headshot and profile of the Carterton mayor and former Minister of Defence has been added to the Russophobes website. The site went live in April to list
Scoop
3 days ago
- Scoop
Government Must Come Clean On Plans To Restrict Public Sector Collective Bargaining
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is calling on the Government to come clean on plans to undermine the rights of public sector workers, after Judith Collins hinted the Government was looking at options to restrict collective bargaining and the right to strike. In comments made on Radio NZ this morning, the Public Service Minister suggested the Government was exploring "a lot of options" for public sector workers when it comes to collective bargaining. "The PSA is seeking an urgent assurance the Minister will not be restricting the fundamental right of workers to collective bargaining and the right to withdraw their labour," PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said."The right to strike is a cornerstone of our democratic workplace relations system and the Government must come clean on any options they are looking at that could undermine this right." This Government has already demonstrated a pattern of undermining workers' rights without proper notice or consultation. It removed pay equity rights with no warning, changed the law to financially penalise workers for taking partial strike action, and Minister Collins has already deployed replacement labour during the Defence Force strike. "We're seeing a concerning escalation in this Government's anti-worker agenda," Fitzsimons said. "The timing of these comments comes as bargaining is underway in health and the public sector and the Government is offering below-inflation pay offers. "This is the same Government that recently increased board directors' pay by 80%. If the Government wants to avoid public sector strike action then it should negotiate in good faith and offer fair pay increases that recognise the rising cost of living and the valuable work our members do." The PSA is seeking an urgent meeting with Minister Collins to discuss these concerning comments and the Government's intentions regarding public sector workers' rights. "We call on Minister Collins to clarify exactly what options the Government is considering and to rule out any moves to restrict the right to strike," said Fitzsimons. "The right to strike is protected under international law and is a fundamental principle of free and democratic societies, for workers in both the private and public sectors. Any attempt to restrict this right would be a backward step for working New Zealanders." Transcript from RNZ interview: COLLINS: "...we're fully aware that the unions have said that they are going to continue strikes and they want to have strikes that we'll see across the public sector and that's probably more political than it is in the interests of their members because don't forget these partial strikes bring about a partial drop in wages as well. DANN: "… do we just need to cut to the chase and get back to arbitration and leave it to an independent panel to make the call and then move on?" COLLINS: "Well I think there's going to be a lot of options that we're looking at as a government as to how to move away from this basically yearly attack on students and also what we're seeing with the..."
RNZ News
4 days ago
- RNZ News
Watch: Erica Stanford and Judith Collins on secondary school teacher strike
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Minister for Public Service Judith Collins are speaking to media after secondary school teachers revealed today they will go on strike next Wednesday . The strike follows what teachers say is an unsatisfactory pay offer from the government. The government has offered a 1 percent pay rise in collective agreement negotiations . The Post Primary Teachers' Association said it was the lowest increase in a generation and comes as teachers face big changes to education. - more to come Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
