Marian Hobbs Speech: 'Say No to war, Yes to peace'
Marian Hobbs Speech: 'Say No to war, Yes to peace' rally, Parliament Grounds, Thurs Feb 27 1.15pm
Thank you for marching for peace
Thank you for working for peace
I am speaking as Minister for Disarmament and as Minister responsible for NZAid. I too want peace. I want a peaceful means of disarming all states of weapons of mass destruction.
Arming for disarmament is like fighting for peace and seems a contradiction.
As a small state in the world scene, I believe strongly in working with other states to achieve peace – that is why we work within the UN to promote a peaceful route to disarmament.
Working within
the UN is to be involved in working on a whole range of
issues: health, food supply, clean water, refugees. The
media focus on war of the last few weeks is to deny the work
of the UN in raising the level of safety and health for all
peoples – and in doing so to promote peace, by removing the
causes of conflict.