Permanent Mission of New Zealand to the United Nations

Media Stakeout

Media Stakeout by UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully following UN Security Council meeting on Aviation Security

Minister McCully: It’s been my privilege this morning to preside over the United Nations Security Council in dealing with a resolution put forward by the United Kingdom Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who has taken up the cause of aviation security. This is a matter that’s greatly important to my country so as [UNSC] President, we were very happy to facilitate this discussion this morning. As I noted to the Council, 99 per cent of the visitors that come to our country travel by air and tourism is one of our most important income earners. I am going to throw to the Foreign Secretary to comment on his resolution.

Secretary Johnson: Thanks Murray and thank you all for coming. This is New York, a city that was affected by one of the worst attacks of aviation in our history. And we’ve all seen just in recent months and years, further attacks: the attack at Istanbul airport, Brussels, the destruction of the Russian Metrojet plane taking off from Egypt and Sinai, and of course the explosion of Daallo Airways flight from Mogadishu.

The threat to aviation is very real and it is growing, and we need a global approach to airline and airport security. That is what this historic resolution achieves, and I’m very grateful to Murray and to the New Zealand government for their assistance in getting this thing through.

This is a global problem - what we are achieving by this resolution is encouraging international civil aviation organisation standards to be applicable across airports around the world, and providing the technical assistance that is absolutely invaluable to make that happen. This is something that we’ve got to do together, and we will be working with the UN Security Council and we will be working with our colleagues at the UN to make sure that that technical assistance is provided and everybody is brought up to a standard level of confidence that will get them feeling that they can travel and use airports around the world with the freedom and the confidence that they need for the success of the global economy.

The terrorists are constantly thinking of ways in which they can beat our preventative measures. We’ve got to be ahead of them, and I think that this resolution today is an important step forward in achieving that.

I think as I said in the Security Council, air travel is one of the greatest liberators. It’s one of the greatest equalisers that the human race has ever found. And this resolution, I think, will help us to continue to enjoy that freedom in safety. So thanks everyone for coming along. I am going to answer a couple of questions.

Al Jazeera English: A question about Syria to do with that ISSG meeting just a few hours away. Do you have much hope that you can get a ceasefire deal back on track when the two co-chairs of the process -- as we saw at the Security Council in the last 24 hours -- disagree on so much?

Secretary Johnson: Well listen- by your very question you’re radiating what I think is a legitimate pessimism that I think is felt by many people around the world. When you look at what is happening, when you look at the bombing that has been taking place in Aleppo overnight. All I can say to you however, is that there is no solution to this all unless there is a political solution, and there can be no political solution unless there is a ceasefire. This is not just a civil war, it is a proxy war. We know who the puppeteers are who are helping to run this thing, we know the influences behind the conflict in Syria. I still think that it is up to them to get the ceasefire going and to get the process back on track. And obviously the ISSG, the Syria Support Group will be meeting later on today.

Radio New Zealand: Given the issues with migration, people moving around the world, either you or your administration -- is there going to be any change to access for New Zealanders under the working visa? Either less or potentially more?

Secretary Johnson: It’s a very good question from New Zealand and everybody in New Zealand. You may or may not know this, but it’s something I personally think it would be a fine thing if we could have fairness towards talented people coming from New Zealand and other countries in getting into our country. But there is a way to go. We have a negotiation to launch and a process to go through but let’s hope substantial progress for New Zealanders by the end of it.

Fox News: President Assad’s longevity has actually outlasted President Obama’s from all likelihood, and also Prime Minister Cameron. What does this say about the state of affairs over in that region?

Secretary Johnson: Well I think that you can certainly put it like that, but the reality is that President Assad of Syria has no legitimacy anymore. If you look at what he has done to his country, to his people, the 400,000 people who have lost their lives in the past five years in this odious conflict that he is overwhelmingly responsible. And I don’t think it is possible to envisage a credible future for Syria with a protraction of the Assad regime. That is the interesting thing about where we are today in the UN is that that is officially at least, that is common ground among the participants around the table in the Security Council. Everybody has agreed in theory under resolution 2254 that there should be transition away from the Assad government. Well let’s make that happen. That can maybe happen with a ceasefire and the resumption of the process.

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