US embassy cable - 05WELLINGTON552

C O N F I D E N T I A L WELLINGTON 000552 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR D (CASTRO), EAP/FO, AND EAP/ANP 
NSC FOR VCHA 
SECDEF FOR OSD/ISA LIZ PHU 
PACOM FOR J2/J233/J5/SJFHQ 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/15/2015 
TAGS: MARR, PREL, NZ 
SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND ON U.S.-SINGAPORE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK 
AGREEMENT 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 125837 
     B. WELLINGTON 475 
     C. WELLINGTON 452 
 
Classified By: POLITICAL-ECONOMIC COUNSELOR KATHERINE HADDA, 
FOR REASONS 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
1.  (C) On July 11, DATT AND Pol-Econ Couns shared reftel 
information with Air Commander Graham Lintott, Office of the 
Assistant Chief of Strategic Commitments and Intelligence, 
and Paul Sinclair, Head of International Defence Relations, 
NZ Defence Force.  Both officials expressed gratitude at 
being given a heads up about the agreement.  Sinclair said 
that his Singaporean contacts had already informed him of 
their strategic framework agreement talks with the United 
States.  Pol-Econ Chief noted that the framework with 
Singapore was a useful example of the kind of broad, 
cooperative framework that the United States and New Zealand 
could explore should we ever engage in a dialogue about how 
to work through the issues that still divide us and move the 
bilateral relationship forward (Refs B and C). 
 
2.  (C) We were unable to inform the Ministry of Foreign 
Affairs and Trade (MFAT) of the initiative before it was 
publicly announced, as staff were drawn away to working the 
phones in the wake of the London terrorist attacks.  However, 
on February 13 Pol-Econ Couns forwarded a copy of the joint 
statement by the President and Singapore President Lee to 
Nigel Moore, Director of MFAT's South and Southeast Asia 
division.  She also provided background on the agreement to 
Bede Corry, Director of MFAT's Office of the Chief Executive, 
noting the potential for similar US-NZ cooperation.  On July 
15, Roy Ferguson, Director of MFAT's North America Division, 
told Pol-Econ Couns that he and other MFAT officials were 
examining the information with interest. 
Swindells