Family First NZ is welcoming moves by the Minister of Foreign Affairs to ‘weed out the wokeness’ from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a result of an exposé by Family First on some of the content on the MFAT website and also its actions around the Pacific Islands.

In a Substack by CEO Bob McCoskrie released today, the government body that should represent New Zealand to other governments, ensure security in the region, and negotiate trade agreements has become fully captive to DEI (diversity, equity & inclusion) & wokeness.

Their website zeroes in on sexual orientation and gender identity, intersectionality, “inclusion of our rainbow communities”, and they have even produced a glossary of reo Māori terminology for people of diverse SOGIESC – compliments of the taxpayer.

MFAT says: “In this way, we celebrate the place of rainbow communities in Aotearoa New Zealand as part of the diversity of the peoples of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa.”

The MFAT website says:

“Indigenous Takatapui LGBTQIA+ terminology are crucial for people-centred development in the Pacific as they honour and recognise the diverse cultural expressions and experiences of Indigenous peoples of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa…. It fosters cultural pride, self-determination, and social cohesion, promoting inclusive and sustainable development in the region.”

The then-Labour government also appointed an “Ambassador for Gender Equality (Pacific) / Tuia Tangata” in 2022 who travelled around Pacific countries pushing wokeness.

According to a report on the Newsroom website in 2022;

“Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced Louisa Wall’s appointment as a new ambassador for gender equality in the Pacific – less than a fortnight after Wall announced the end of her 14-year career in Parliament. The timing of Wall’s appointment, coupled with the well-established tensions between the outspoken MP and some within Labour, led to speculation that the role – to which she was appointed directly, without advertisement – had been created to move her on from Parliament.”

In response to the expose, the Minister of Foreign Affairs released a statement this morning, saying:

“Since returning to the Foreign Affairs portfolio in November 2023, the Minister has been concerned about the impact that the woke agenda of his predecessor and the Ardern/Hipkins Government had on New Zealand’s diplomacy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Over the past 16 months, the Minister has made clear to successive Secretaries of Foreign Affairs and Trade that he expects MFAT and New Zealand’s diplomats to reflect the agenda of the current New Zealand Government. This has included a determination to remove references to the previous government’s policy priorities from the Ministry’s online publications.

While the Minister continues to hold New Zealand’s diplomats in the highest esteem, he is disappointed that there continue to be outdated references to discretionary legacy initiatives of the previous Labour Government on the MFAT website. He has instructed Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade Bede Corry to review the Ministry’s website and ensure its alignment with the Coalition Government’s agenda.

He looks forward to that review being conducted with a sense of urgency.”

It’s time that MFAT got back to their core activity – foreign affairs and trade, security in the region (including especially the Cook Islands), free trade deals – rather than ramming down DEI and Wokeism 101 down the throat of every other country.

This appears to be the target of the NZ First bill released last week, and should be supported by the coalition partners National and ACT.

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