Media Release: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise: Blood on Your Hands
From: Peace Action Wellington
Date: 13 October 2006

Activists involved in the campaign to stop the weapons conference, being held at Te Papa on 17/18 October, paid a visit to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise today (Friday 13 October) to stage a die-in and present them with the declaration below. New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is located on the 15th floor of Wellington’s high rise Majestic Centre.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the New Zealand Government’s national economic development agency, has blood on their hands when they are responsible for divvying out hundreds of thousands of dollars to companies involved with weapons manufacturing and who profit from the death and human misery caused by war.

Declaration presented to New Zealand Trade and Enterprise

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is supporting the development and marketing of a global weapons trade. In the past five years, more than $600,000 has been given to Auckland-based company Rakon that makes components for US ‘smart bombs’. Rakon has explicitly said that they want to ‘grow their share of the lucrative guided munitions market.’ You are helping them to maim and kill people in Iraq, Lebanon and Gaza as their components guide the very bombs being used by both the US and Israeli Defence Forces.

In 2006, Trade and Enterprise gave money for delegates of 10 New Zealand companies to go to weapons conferences overseas.

In 2006, Trade and Enterprise gave Vision Manawatu Inc. $22,500 to ‘increase the capability of the Manawatu Defence Group to become and internationally competitive defence tendering consortium.’

The support of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise means companies here can develop and market cheaper and more deadly weapons. The blood of the people who suffer as a result of these weapons is on your hands.

We demand an end to all government support for a weapons industry.