'A Good Direction': Departing US Ambassador Talks Trade, AUKUS, And Climate

Wednesday, 15 January 2025, 8:54 pm
Article: RNZ

Giles Dexter, Political Reporter

Joe Biden's man in Wellington has been saying so many goodbyes, he's gone and got laryngitis.

Not that Tom Udall is too bothered by it. In fact, he sees it as a testament to how easy it is to strike up a conversation in New Zealand.

"I love the frankness of New Zealanders, the candidness," the cowboy boot-clad US Ambassador tells RNZ.

"I've had people walk up to me and say 'I don't like that America is doing this,' and then I would explain my point of view, and then we'd both sit there and talk through things, and we learn from each other. That's the beauty here, is you have a vibrant democracy."

The Ambassador, who has been in New Zealand since 2021, is heading back Stateside, his tenure ending with Biden's.

Ambassadors all serve at the pleasure of the President. After a change in administration, the politically-appointed Ambassadors all resign and return to the United States. Donald Trump's victory in November has meant Udall has had time to come to terms with the fact his time in New Zealand is over.

Despite serving as a Democrat Congressman and Senator before coming to New Zealand, the diplomat is reluctant to get into the politics of what the change to a Republican administration will mean for the US-NZ relationship.

"It's hard to predict where we're going with anything in politics, and public policy, and foreign policy. But I just feel that the relationship is so strong that it's going to be headed in a good direction."

It is now over to Trump to appoint Udall's successor. And it may take some time.

Udall was first nominated by Biden in July 2021, six months after his inauguration. He then had to go through hearings through the Senate, and finally presented his credentials to the Governor-General that December (though this was likely due to Covid-19 restrictions; Udall's predecessor, Scott Brown, was nominated by President Trump in April 2017 and arrived two months later).

Udall did not share a message for his eventual replacement, but said if whoever it was wanted to call him, he would be available.

Climate, trade, and Aukus

That "frankness" Udall admires has also played out on matters of security.

He said New Zealand's sending ships to the Red Sea and Taiwan Strait, as well as NZDF staff to the UK to train Ukrainian troops, were examples of New Zealand speaking up and working with "likeminded democracies" to speak up.

"New Zealand not only punches above its weight, but is very frank, and expresses those frank opinions with other countries where they're doing things that they don't think are good for the region."

Udall's tenure has coincided with a shift in US engagement in the Indo-Pacific.

China has been spending large in the Pacific, and the US has noticed.

"There has been a dramatic change in the region, and that's reflected in New Zealand documents under both governments, the last three governments, talking about the landscape in the region. There's a change in security, and we acknowledge that. The leaders of New Zealand say 'we want to step up to the plate and work with our like-minded partners to address those issues,' and that's what we've been doing," Udall said.

The potential for New Zealand to work closer with the US through the AUKUS agreement has also become a hot-button security issue.

The government has said it was 'investigating' signing up to the second pillar of the agreement between the US, UK, and Australia, which involved information and techology sharing.

Labour, which had previously expressed a willingness to investigate, has this year instead criticised the agreement, saying New Zealand should not be a 'force multiplier' for one superpower in a containment strategy directed against another.

China's ambassador to New Zealand has warned signing up could have ramifications for the trade relationship.

Despite Labour's opposition of late, Udall claims all three Prime Ministers he had worked with (Ardern, Hipkins, and Luxon) had all spoken in favour of the agreement.

"The leaders have said, 'we think that's good for the region, we think that's good for security.' Pillar two is just a discussion, and I think it's important that people understand that it's just a discussion. There haven't been offers yet, that's where we're at right now," he said.

"And the most important thing is to remember, when the new government comes in on January 20, what are their proposals? I think New Zealand's ready to weigh in when they hear any concrete propoals out of the new administration and have that discussion and carry that forward."

But Udall saw climate change as the number one security threat facing the region.

The ambassador called New Zealand an "incredible partner" on climate, noting he had been to Antarctica, visited US scientists working with New Zealand counterparts in the Southern Alps, and recently visited COP26 in Azerbaijan with the minister for climate change, Simon Watts.

Seeing the shrinking sea ice firsthand had made Udall realise things were going faster than scientists were predicting.

"This is the issue that we need to be an emergency. We need it to be urgent, and every government in the world needs to step forward and do what it can, and in an urgent way, because this is very, very serious," he said.

"When you see ice sheets that are shrinking and have the potential to raise the sea level, one estimate, pretty recently, is about 18 meters. Can you imagine sea rise of 18 meters for an island like New Zealand or even smaller island in the Pacific? That's why people say this is an existential crisis, and it is scary, but I think we know how to solve it. We have the ability, we have the technology, we need the political will to do it, and all the countries in the world need to join together. We can't do this alone. No one country can. We can't tackle this alone. We need to do it together."

The ambassador said he was proud the US has become New Zealand's number-two ranked export market. Red meat exports, in particular.

That may change if the Trump administration begins to apply its tariffs.

But Udall believes New Zealand is well-prepared to respond to any proposals.

Rosemary Banks, who was New Zealand's Ambassador to the US during the last Trump presidency, has been re-appointed, and the Ambassador who served in between her two stints, Bede Corry, is now head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Udall expected they, and other diplomatic staff and politicians, would put New Zealand's best case forward.

"I'm not worried right now, because there are no concrete proposals. When you're the second largest export market in New Zealand, that's a big deal. I mean, we've surpassed Australia. That's pretty special, I feel a little competitive there."

Life in New Zealand

In his former life in the Senate, Udall served as Vice Chair of the Senate's Indian Affairs Committee.

New Mexico, which Udall represented, has 23 different Native American tribes, and he has shown a willingness to learn about te ao Māori while in New Zealand.

"I just thought it was natural for me, and natural for New Zealand to come here and learn the culture, learn all the norms and customs that were here, and try to mainly build the relationship between the indigenous people of the United States, the indigenous people of New Zealand, and the indigenous people of the region."

Udall said America could learn from kaitiakitanga in making sure the land is in better shape for the next generation.

It is all a far cry from his former life in the Capitol, but Udall does not miss US politics.

"I don't miss the fundraising at all. I have to do very little of that, except for a Fourth of July party every year. The other thing that's so enjoyable is you have a vibrant democracy, and very generous and kind people, and I see that at every turn in all my travels around New Zealand."

Udall expects he will return to working with his foundation, which works with indigenous people. He said he wanted to do some work around climate change and teaching, and anticipated returning to New Zealand in the future, as a tourist.

He leaves confident the relationship is in good shape, and also with an appreciation of AllBirds, pies, and chocolate fish.

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