Introduction
New Zealand has important strategic interests in Antarctica that are as much about geography and the country's geostrategic needs, as they are about history and the politics of maintaining rights gained in an earlier era. This paper outlines the reasons behind New Zealand's involvement in, and commitment to, Antarctica; profiles the various bodies involved in maintaining and negotiating New Zealand's Antarctic presence and voice on Antarctic affairs; and discusses New Zealand's core interests in the Antarctic continent that help to shape its Antarctic policy.
New Zealand's geographic and historical links to Antarctica
New Zealand has strong geographic and historical links that tie it closely to Antarctica. These connections mean that New Zealanders have a stronger sense than the citizens of most other Antarctic nations that Antarctica is a part of their national history and heritage.
There are ancient geological ties between New Zealand and Antarctica that can be traced back to Gondwanaland. Fossilised trees found in Antarctica are related to New Zealand's modern-day beech forests (British Antarctic Survey 2009). Even today, New Zealand is one of the closest and most convenient locations from which to launch an expedition into the Antarctic interior. Unlike most other Antarctic nations, New Zealand's Antarctic researchers need only need to board a plane to visit the Antarctic, and they can go for short and frequent stays, rather than spend a whole season there.
The geographic environment in Antarctica and any changes which may occur there are felt very personally by New Zealanders. When New Zealand weather forecasters talk of a cold southerly sweeping up the country the television weather maps show it as coming from the icy Antarctic zone just to the south of New Zealand. In 2005 and 2006, large icebergs broke off from the Ronne Ice Shelf and they floated along the New Zealand eastern coast, within clear sight of land (The Age (Melbourne) 6 January 2005). The largest was over 1 km long. The same phenomenon occurred in 2009 (The New Zealand Herald (Auckland) 14 November 2009). For New Zealanders, more than the citizens of most other Antarctic nations, the melting of the poles seems a very real and present threat.
The historical links are equally close, and they are a direct result of New Zealand's proximity to the Antarctic continent. Many Antarctic expeditions have been launched from New Zealand or have visited New Zealand after a visit to the ice and many explorers have also incorporated New Zealanders into their team. For example early explorers such as Fabian Gottlieb von Bellinghausen (Russia), Charles Wilkes (US), James Clark Ross (UK), Carstens Borchgrevink (Norway), Robert Falcon Scott (UK), Ernest Shackleton (UK), Roald Amundsen (Norway), Shirase Nobu (Japan), Douglas Mawson (Australia), Richard E. Byrd (US), and New Zealand's own Edmund Hilary all began their expeditions from New Zealand or returned there after visiting Antarctica, and almost all employed New Zealanders in their crew (New Zealand History Online 2009).
A further important influence on New Zealanders' sense of a close relationship to Antarctica is the 1979 crash of Air New Zealand flight 901 at Mt Erebus on Ross Island. The crash of flight 901 has left a deep scar on the New Zealand psyche regarding Antarctica and in particular, Mt Erebus (see TVNZ's indepth coverage of the 30th anniversary of the disaster, TVNZ 2009). Flight 901 was a scheduled tourist flight over Antarctica, which had operated from 1977. 257 people died in the Erebus crash, 200 New Zealanders, as well as travellers from Japan, the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, France and Switzerland. The crash was New Zealand's largest ever air accident. The public inquiry after the crash, which extended over three years, raised serious questions about Air New Zealand's handling of its Antarctic flight and its public response to the disaster (Moroney Reference Moroney2009). After the crash, both Air New Zealand and Qantas suspended their Antarctic tourist flights. In November 2009 New Zealanders commemorated the Erebus crash with memorial ceremonies at Scott Base and in Auckland.
New Zealand as a claimant state in Antarctica
On his 1841 expedition to Antarctica, the British explorer James Clark Ross discovered and named the Ross Sea, a deep bay in the Southern Ocean with convenient access into the Antarctic continent. Once charted, this area became the launching sites for many later expeditions into the Antarctic hinterland. In 1923, competition for whaling rights led Britain to announce a claim to the area it called the ‘Ross Dependency’. Britain handed over the responsibility for the dependency's ‘governance’ to the Governor-General of New Zealand (New Zealand Legislation: Regulations 2007).
New Zealand's legal rights to the Ross Dependency claim are inextricably linked with its relationship to Britain. The arrangement that New Zealand would administer this uninhabited territory meant that it came to be understood by the New Zealand government and people that the Ross Dependency was a ‘New Zealand claim’; hence, 1923 is the point from which the New Zealand government now dates its Antarctic entitlement (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) New Zealand (NZ) 2009a). However from a legal point of view, New Zealand's separate legal rights to legislate for the dependency did not occur until much later, when New Zealand became independent from Britain, both in constitutional and institutional law (A. Quentin-Baxter, constitutional law specialist, personal communication, 18 November 2009). This was a long and complicated process and there are many dates which mark the stages of this transition. However the one which most clearly identifies the Ross Dependency as legally a part of the ‘Realm of New Zealand’ is the 1983 ‘Letters Patent Constituting the Office of Governor General of New Zealand’ (Cabinet Manual 2008). This document updated a similar ‘Letters Patent’ from 1917 which did not include the Ross Dependency in the ‘Realm of New Zealand’ (K Scott, Antarctic law specialist, personal communication, 18 November 2009).
At 450,000 km2 the Ross Dependency is larger than the main islands of New Zealand (North, South and Stewart Island) put together. It is composed of all the islands and territories beyond 60° between 160°E and 150°W. Most of the claim consists of ice, the Ross Ice Shelf. When the claim was made in 1923 there was little awareness of the actual geography of the Ross Dependency zone.
The drawing up of the Ross Dependency's boundaries was based on the theory of ‘sectors’, similar to that adopted in the Arctic, and to a certain extent, similar to how some of the boundaries of Africa were drawn up by colonial powers in an earlier era. The ‘border lines’ of the dependency slice through mountain ranges and end at the South Pole. The Ross Dependency is around 3,500 km from the New Zealand mainland. It is the second smallest claim of all the Antarctic claimant states, but its actual size does not represent its true value. The Ross Ice Shelf is one of the most convenient access points into Antarctica. This is why many Antarctic explorers launched their expeditions from there and why the US, long the leading power in Antarctica, initially set up four bases there, now reduced to two.
For a long time, successive New Zealand governments were extremely diffident about the Ross Dependency claim. Initially they tended to worry about the cost of maintaining it, while in the 1950s and early 1970s internationally minded senior politicians even wanted to give it away, proposing that Antarctica should be managed by the United Nations or run as a world park (see Auburn Reference Auburn1972; Quartermain Reference Quartermain1971; Templeton Reference Templeton2000). However in recent years, such concerns and lofty altruism have been replaced by a strong awareness of the multiple strategic advantages New Zealand's Antarctic claim offers. Moreover, since the early 1990s, the failure of the Antarctic Treaty Contracting Parties (ATCPs) to pass the Convention of the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA), the negotiations of which New Zealand had led for nearly ten years, resulted in a gradual realisation that collective action in Antarctica would not always be completely sufficient to protect New Zealand's national interests (S. Prior, personal communication 26 November 2009).
Despite being an original signatory to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, New Zealand continues to maintain its right to sovereignty over the Ross Dependency. It is entitled to do so under Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty, which states that the treaty is not ‘a renunciation by any Contracting Party of previously asserted rights of or claims to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica’ (Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) 2007). As part of supporting its claim New Zealand employs an ‘active permanent presence in the Ross Dependency’ (ANZ 2009a: 7). This is demonstrated in multiple ways, including: New Zealand's continued commitment to the research station Scott Base (despite the tough economic times New Zealand is currently experiencing); the focusing of New Zealand's scientific research activities on the territory of the dependency; New Zealand's assumption of international sectoral responsibility for search and rescue activities, meterological observations, and hydrographic surveys in the Ross Sea region; New Zealand's application for and bid for the management of 19 environmentally protected areas within the Ross Dependency; as well as strong government support for Antarctic activities at an international and national level, and involving government departments, the business community, and ordinary New Zealanders.
New Zealand is cautious about more openly asserting the Ross Dependency claim, carefully trying to avoid overly forceful actions that might cause friction within the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) or among non-treaty signatory countries (Prior Reference Prior1997: 7). New Zealand is especially concerned not to offend the US, whom New Zealand is dependent on for regular access to the ice and whose Antarctic activities bring in a massive economic boost to the US Antarctic logistics base, Christchurch city in New Zealand's South Island. In 2006 New Zealand applied to the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf to take over control of 1.7 million sq km of seabed (outside the Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ) on the continental shelf around the territory of New Zealand. The application did not include data on New Zealand's Ross Dependency Antarctic claim, but the New Zealand government stated that it reserved the right to do so in future. The New Zealand position was that this meant that they were respecting the requirements of the Antarctic Treaty, at the same time as protecting their rights in the future to make a claim to the Antarctic seabeds surrounding the Ross Dependency (The New Zealand Herald (Auckland) 19 October 2007).
New Zealand's Antarctic organisations
New Zealand's Antarctic involvement is coordinated and overseen by a number of bodies which work closely together. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade's tiny Antarctic Policy Unit (it has only three personnel) is tasked with: coordinating policy advice to the New Zealand government on Antarctica and the Southern Ocean including the Ross Dependency; representing New Zealand's interests within the various bodies of the ATS; conducting New Zealand's Antarctica related diplomacy; providing the Minister of Foreign Affairs with advice on the implementation of the Antarctica (Environmental Protection) Act 1994, which includes developing clear procedures for all tourists, tour operators and non-governmental visitors to Antarctica who depart from New Zealand; as well as advising the New Zealand government on the implementation of the Antarctic Marine Living Resources Act of 1981 (MFAT NZ 2009b). Other New Zealand government departments with Antarctic interests include the Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Defence, the Treasury, Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Tourism, Ministry of Transport; the Department of Conservation, Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet; New Zealand Defence Force; Land Information New Zealand; and Maritime New Zealand.
New Zealand government policy on Antarctica is coordinated by the Officials Antarctic Committee, which is chaired by the Antarctic Policy Unit. All the above-mentioned government departments with an interest or role in Antarctica, as well as Antarctica New Zealand (ANZ), are members of this body. The Environmental Assessment and Review Panel, a body of scientific specialists, advises the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the environmental impact of any New Zealand related Antarctic activity.
ANZ is the Crown entity responsible for developing, managing and implementing New Zealand government activities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean, ‘in particular in the Ross Dependency’ (author's emphasis) (ANZ 2009a: 4). ANZ has a six person board of directors and a permanent staff of thirty based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It is also in charge of employing the temporary staff who work on New Zealand's Antarctic base each season and managing the base. It coordinates, approves, and provides some of the funding for New Zealand's Antarctic scientific research programme. It is also responsible for kitting out researchers and other visitors going down to Antarctica on New Zealand projects in their distinctive, stylish black and orange Antarctic gear (ANZ launched a new uniform for all New Zealand personnel in 2008, designed by New Zealand company Earth Sea Sky). Through its arts, media, and youth programmes the organisation aims to raise public awareness in New Zealand about the international significance of the continent and its connection and importance to New Zealand (ANZ 2009b). These activities have helped to develop a strong awareness of New Zealand's Antarctic heritage among ordinary New Zealanders.
ANZ is based in Christchurch, at the International Antarctic Centre next to Christchurch International Airport, which is also the location for the US and Italian Antarctic programme offices. Over 75 per cent of the world's scientists flying to Antarctica depart from here (Christchurch City Council 2009). Christchurch has developed considerable expertise in cold climate logistics over the many years of Antarctic exploration and international scientific research. More than fifty local businesses provide Antarctic support services through the Canterbury Antarctic Business Interest Network (CABIN) (Scoop Independent News (online only) 28 September 2009).
New Zealand has a number of research centres dedicated to Antarctic studies, as well as smaller groups of researchers working on Antarctic themes at all of New Zealand's eight universities. The University of Canterbury hosts Gateway Antarctica, a multi-disciplinary research centre which coordinates the Antarctic research of specialists in the sciences, law, social sciences, arts and humanities (University of Canterbury). Gateway Antarctica offers undergraduate and graduate courses in Antarctic Studies, including the fourteen week long postgraduate Certificate in Antarctic Studies (which includes a two-week field trip to Antarctica). Reflecting the strong interest towards Antarctica in New Zealand, these courses are usually heavily over-subscribed.
The Antarctic Research Centre at Victoria University in Wellington (Victoria University of Wellington 2007) focuses on Antarctic science and it is recognised as a world leader of research into Antarctica's past climate, its influence in global climate change, and polar scientific drilling technology and operations. The University of Waikato's Antarctic Research Unit is located within the School of Science and Engineering. The personnel of this unit have specialist interests in soil mapping and the human impact on the Antarctic environment (University of Waikato 2006). Auckland, Massey, Lincoln, and Otago universities and the Auckland University of Technology all have staff engaged in Antarctic research who collaborate with other New Zealand based and international Antarctic researchers covering a wide range of fields (see NZUAA for a detailed list of profiles of New Zealand researchers with Antarctic interests). Three Crown research institutes, Landcare (Landcare Research 2009), which engages in environmental research; GNS Science (GNS Science 2006), which specialises in earth sciences; and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) (NIWA 2008) all engage in Antarctic related studies. NIWA's research vessel RV Tangaroa provides logistical support for New Zealand's hydrographic surveys and other scientific research in the Southern Ocean.
A number of non-governmental organisations are also involved in supporting (and sometimes criticising) New Zealand's Antarctic activities and engagement with the ATS. Greenpeace New Zealand, the Forest and Bird Society, and the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition are the most prominent. All three have a strong interest in environmental issues; while Greenpeace and the Southern Ocean Coalition have also been involved in a continuing effort to stop Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic Heritage Trust (New Zealand) is an NGO that receives funding from the New Zealand government for its administrative costs (Peat Reference Peat2007). The Trust has been active in promoting the preservation of a number of historic explorers' huts in the Ross Dependency (Antarctic Heritage Trust 2009). Such activities help to underline New Zealand's Antarctic claim, so it is not surprising that the organisation receives government assistance for its work.
New Zealand's Antarctic presence: Scott Base
New Zealand's permanent Antarctic research station, Scott Base is located on Pram Point, at the end of Hutt Point peninsula, on Ross Island in the Ross Dependency. It is a short walk from the US's largest Antarctic research station, McMurdo. Scott Base was built in 1957, initially as a depot for the British Trans-Antarctic Expedition and for science activities associated with the International Geophysical Year. It became a permanent research station in 1959.
During the austral summer about 35 New Zealand Antarctic Programme (NZAP) staff are located at Scott Base to help scientific research teams and other groups with their activities. The NZAP staff provide food, administration, communications, operations and field training for all participants in New Zealand's annual Antarctic activities. Every year about twenty to thirty New Zealand led science projects are undertaken from Scott Base. Around 350 New Zealanders and international visitors involved in New Zealand science projects visit Antarctica each year as part of the New Zealand Antarctic Programme. During the peak summer research period the base can house up to 85 people. A ‘winter over’ team of about 11 New Zealand personnel carry out scientific research and engage in ongoing base maintenance activities in preparation for the next summer. 46% of the New Zealand personnel who visit Antarctica are scientists, about a third are support personnel, while the rest are non-scientists such as artists, dignitaries, and students (ANZ, Statement of Intent 2009–2012). New Zealand scientists need only spend a minimum of time in Antarctica, as planes depart from Christchurch to the Ross Dependency two to three times a week in the summer season.
The US provides the bulk of the air transport for New Zealand personnel going to the Antarctic. The US, New Zealand, and Italy (the Italian Antarctic programme operates a summer-only station at Terra Nova Bay) participate in a joint logistics pool to move staff and goods between Christchurch and the Ross Sea area. The contributions of each country to the pool are proportional to the weight of cargo and personnel they send. Every year the US sends around 3000 personnel through Christchurch airport to its Antarctic programmes in the Ross Dependency area; the New Zealand personnel quota is less than a tenth of that at 350; and the Italian programme sends only 70 personnel. Accordingly, during the 2009 to 2010 season, the US will contribute 65 flights, New Zealand will contribute 8 flights, and the Italian programme will contribute 4 flights. Two US merchant ships (a tanker and a cargo vessel) also travel south in January each year to deliver fuel and any items too heavy for the planes to transport. Lacking the US's massive defence resources to draw on for its Antarctic transport, New Zealand and Italy put in their fair share to the pool through other means. For example, when a wind farm near Scott Base becomes operational (in 2010), the energy it provides to the US programme will form part of New Zealand's contribution to the logistics pool. New Zealand provides cargo handling and covers the Antarctic planes' landing fees at Christchurch airport. Without the US logistics support it would be extremely difficult for New Zealand to continue its existing Antarctic programme, but at the same time, due to the convenience Christchurch offers the US as its main extra-Antarctic base for its Antarctic operations, the US is also dependent on the cooperation and good will of New Zealand to maintain its core Antarctic objectives.
Scott Base was rebuilt from 1976 to 1977, with further renovations occurring from 2005 to 2007. In its present form it consists of a group of modern buildings, built from sheet steel and lined with polyurethane foam. The base is elevated above the ground so that snow can blow underneath. Scott Base buildings are all painted a distinctive ‘Scott Base green’; adding a hint of New Zealand's greenery to the stark Antarctic landscape. The buildings are joined together by corridors; this allows personnel to move throughout different parts of the base without having to go outdoors, as well as enabling sectors to be closed off if there was a fire. The base is cosy and warm with a relaxed family atmosphere. The interior is decorated in soothing shades of white and green to match the exterior, and there is a similar attention to detail in the nutritious home style meals served at the base canteen and in the overall base management.
The renovations at Scott Base in recent years have included considerable efforts to lower the impact of the human presence on the ice. All rubbish is carefully sorted into ‘recyclable’ and ‘non-recyclable’ and returned to New Zealand. Sewage and grey water are treated in a waste water plant, then discharged into the Ross Sea (N. Gilbert, ANZ Environmental Manager, personal communication, 2 December 2009). The Scott Base power supply is currently provided by diesel generators, but this will be replaced by renewable wind energy from February 2010 (Meridian Energy no date). The wind turbines will also provide an estimated 11% of McMurdo Base's energy needs, helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the two bases and reducing the risk of oil spillages into the pristine Antarctic environment.
New Zealand's Antarctic policies
New Zealand's Antarctic policies are a combination of the concerns of the various government departments engaged in overseeing New Zealand's Antarctic interests. The country has geostrategic interests in Antarctica, as well as scientific, environmental, economic and political concerns.
New Zealand's Antarctic science
In order to maintain its credibility as a leading Antarctic state it is essential that New Zealand engages in high quality science there. The Antarctic Treaty designates scientific research as the main legitimate activity for states to engage in while in Antarctica. Since the signing of the treaty in 1959, investing in Antarctic based scientific research has become the sole legitimate means by which countries with an interest in the continent can get a say in Antarctic governance. Moreover, leadership in Antarctic scientific concerns such as global warming or levels of Southern Ocean fish stocks, is also a key means to assert leadership within the ATS.
The above reasons are why Antarctic science, unlike most other areas of scientific discovery in New Zealand, is strategically important in New Zealand's overall foreign policy goals. Accordingly, unlike other scientific activities in New Zealand, Antarctic science is heavily subsidised by the New Zealand taxpayer. If a scientist's project is accepted in the annual Antarctic science plan of ANZ, then their transport, clothing, housing and food costs will be covered by ANZ as part of its annual budget. These are referred to by ANZ as ‘shadow costs’ (ANZ 2009a: 20). Scientists make a small contribution to these costs in their research budgets, but it by no means covers the full amount (B. Storey, Head of Gateway Antarctica, University of Canterbury, personal communication, 16 November 2009). Scientists can apply for the bulk of the funding costs of their research experiments on the ice through the government's Foundation for Research Science and Technology (FRST) budget for Antarctic science and/or logistics support (FRST 2009a). Approximately NZ$2.4 million per year is available for Antarctic research through this fund (FRST 2009b). An additional NZ$ 4.5 million was available for Antarctic related science projects during the 2007–2009 International Polar Year. The total budget for all of New Zealand's Antarctic activities is around NZ$21 million, the budget for ANZ covers NZ$13 million of that total (E. Butler, ANZ, personal communication, 18 November 2009). In the 2009 budget New Zealand's Antarctic budget was capped, and it is likely to be kept that way for the next five years due to the difficulties the New Zealand economy is experiencing as a result of the global economic crisis. Other government programmes suffered major cutbacks in spending, so the fact that the Antarctic related spend was only ‘capped’ indicates the value that the New Zealand government places on its Antarctic investment. New Zealand scientists who receive funding from other sources (such as the Royal Society of New Zealand Marsden Fund) are also entitled to receive the ANZ subsidy for ‘shadow costs’, as long as their project has been accepted within the annual plan for New Zealand's Antarctic science activities.
In order to make best use of resources and prioritise the scientific research most relevant to New Zealand, ANZ sets the agenda for scientists on the key themes worthy of exploration. These are issued in a five yearly statement on New Zealand's ‘Antarctic and Southern Ocean Scientific Strategy’. In 2008 the core government agencies engaged in Antarctic activities identified New Zealand's strategic science interest as: focused on the Ross Sea region; investigating global processes and climate change; biosecurity; bioprospecting and other economic issues; exploring issues of biodiversity in the marine environment; managing Antarctic marine resources; and, managing the human impact in Antarctica (New Zealand's Antarctic and Southern Ocean Science Strategy 2009 (draft). This document requires formal ratification by the New Zealand cabinet before it becomes official). Other themes were not completely excluded, but scientists who wished to explore such topics had to relate them back to the core research agenda (New Zealand's Antarctic and Southern Ocean Strategy 2009 (draft)).
New Zealand is reliant on international collaboration to pursue its research activities in Antarctica, so for this reason the core themes of New Zealand's science strategy are closely linked to the core science programmes of the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) (New Zealand's Antarctica and Southern Ocean Science Strategy 2009 (draft)). The key New Zealand International Polar Year Antarctic activities were the Antarctic drilling project (ANDRILL), the census of Antarctic marine life (CAML), winter sea ice growth, and predicting bio-complexity in dry valley ecosystems. New Zealand is a strong supporter of transparency and access to information in Antarctic research. All the outcomes of New Zealand's Antarctic research to date are available on an online portal (NASA 2009). New Zealand's Antarctic research is well regarded internationally and has a high rate of citation in international, peer reviewed journals. Over a six year period (2003–2009) the scientific output of ANZ supported researchers was cited 817 times (ANZ 2009a: 31). In a recent survey of the citation rate of Antarctic nations' scientific output, New Zealand ranked seventh, ahead of such countries as Japan, Russia, and China (Dastidar and Persson Reference Dastidar and Persson2004).
New Zealand's economic interests in Antarctica
New Zealand has numerous economic interests in Antarctica. These include tourism; fishing; providing logistics for national and international Antarctic expeditions; the involvement of New Zealand businesses in Antarctica; and the potential for economic exploitation of the findings of scientific research done in Antarctica. Antarctic related economic activities made a direct contribution to the Canterbury (the region surrounding the city of Christchurch) economy of around NZ$88 million, while it was estimated that the New Zealand economy as a whole earned $133 million from its Antarctic involvement (Dalziel and others Reference Dalziel, Saunders and Hayes2007). Currently boats from the US, Italy, Korea, China, and Russian Antarctic programmes visit Christchurch's port of Lyttleton on a regular basis. As part of its plan to be a logistics and scientific research hub for Antarctic activities, the Christchurch city council has established Antarctic collaboration with: the US, Italian, British, Australian, Korean, Russian, German, Canadian, Chinese, Argentine, South African, Chilean, and Indian Antarctic programmes as well as with local body authorities in those countries engaged in Antarctica (S. Johnston, Christchurch City Council, personal communication, 1 December 2009).
New Zealand is keen to exploit the potential economic benefits of Antarctic scientific research (New Zealand's Antarctic and Southern Ocean Strategy 2009 (draft)). However, so far, the government is somewhat cautious about involving commercial operators on a large scale in the New Zealand Antarctic programme overall. This is further evidence of the strategic importance of Antarctica to New Zealand and the government's desire to maintain political control of New Zealand's activities there.
New Zealand's Antarctic tourism includes the sea tours organised by New Zealand based companies to the sub-Antarctic islands south of New Zealand and to the Ross Dependency. The Antarctic tours of New Zealand-based companies must include a New Zealand government observer, to ensure that the proper environmental protocols are followed. New Zealand is the only Antarctic nation to insist on this practice (Peat Reference Peat2007). New Zealand's Antarctic tourism also includes New Zealand based Antarctic tourism which draws on New Zealand's Antarctic heritage and continuing connections such as the International Antarctic Attraction in Christchurch and the Antarctic display in the Kelly Tarlton Underwater World in Auckland. The Canterbury and Invercargill museums both have substantial Antarctic displays and there are a wealth of other Antarctic related sites in Christchurch, Wellington, and Invercargill; where many Antarctic expeditions were launched from or famous Antarctic explorers once lived.
Ross Sea and Southern Ocean fishing by New Zealand fishing companies brings in approximately NZ$20 million per annum into the New Zealand economy (ANZ 2009a: 7). The depletion of fish in these areas has a flow on effect on the availability of fish in New Zealand's adjacent EEZ. Hence the level of fish stocks in the Ross Sea and Southern Ocean and the rate of illegal unregulated and unreported fishing there is of direct interest to New Zealand. New Zealand is a firm advocate of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which manages and monitors fish stocks in the Antarctic seas.
New Zealand's political interests in Antarctica
New Zealand has a strong political interest in maintaining its claim to the Ross Dependency and its involvement in international Antarctic governance. New Zealand is an island state, remote from the rest of the world with a population of only 4.3 million. New Zealand has always been dependent on other states for maintaining its security and access to markets and it is particularly reliant on multilateral alliances to pursue its foreign policy goals. Hence it relies on the Antarctic Treaty and the international collaborations which have stemmed from it to help preserve New Zealand's claim to the Ross Dependency and further New Zealand's wider interests in Antarctica. As part of this, New Zealand puts considerable efforts into gaining leadership positions within the Antarctic Treaty system. Currently New Zealanders hold several key positions in the ATS including: the chair of the Committee on Environmental Protection; the executive secretary for, and head office of, the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes (at the campus of the University of Canterbury in Christchurch); a vice-chair of the COMNAP Committee; the secretary of SCAR's Evolution and Biodiversity Group; and co-deputy chair of the Standing Committee of Antarctic Data Management (SCADM).
Whereas some ATCPs such as China are critical of the ATS (Brady in press), New Zealand has a direct political interest in the continuance of the treaty and its various associated bodies of international law. New Zealand does not have the resources to defend its Ross Dependency claim, so it relies heavily on the structures of the Antarctic Treaty and other international regimes to continue to do so. New Zealand has a stronger interest than most Antarctic nations in ensuring that Antarctica continues to be peaceful and free from military conflict. New Zealand is the third closest nation to Antarctica and any conflict there would likely have a spill-on affect in New Zealand.
New Zealand's environmental interests in Antarctica
Antarctica has a critical role in global climate change. As a close neighbour of Antarctica, New Zealand has a direct interest in changes in the Antarctic environment. Climate change in Antarctica will have a direct and immediate affect on New Zealand ecosystems. Overfishing of Antarctic seas fish stocks is likely to affect fishing in New Zealand's EEZ. At certain times of the year the hole in the Antarctic ozone stretches from the Antarctic continent to completely cover New Zealand. As a consequence New Zealand puts a high priority on the conservation of the ‘intrinsic and wilderness values’ of both the Antarctic and the Southern Ocean and regards maintaining these as a strategic interest of New Zealand (ANZ 2009a: 8).
Like all nations with an early Antarctic involvement, New Zealand was not always conscious of environmental concerns when working in Antarctica. However, currently New Zealand prides itself on being a leader on environmental matters in the continent. It was the first country to prepare a comprehensive environmental evaluation under the requirements of the 1999 Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty. Nowadays, maintaining high environmental standards in New Zealand's own Antarctic activities is one way for New Zealand to guarantee its influence in Antarctic international fora (ANZ 2009a). New Zealand currently chairs the Antarctic Treaty's committee for Environmental Protection, which is an important means to ensure its views on these issues are heard and understood by other Antarctic nations.
Antarctica in New Zealand foreign policy
New Zealand's Antarctic activities give the nation a status and international profile which would be impossible to achieve without that connection. New Zealand regards Antarctica as a ‘national asset’ which gives it much needed leverage in its dealings with other nations (Prior Reference Prior1997: 1). For example during the period 1984–2001 when US-New Zealand high level defence and security related bilateral relations were in the doldrums due to New Zealand's declared non-nuclear policy, New Zealand's interactions with the US over Antarctic matters continued to be constructive. The positive relations between the two countries in Antarctica meant that when high level relations did eventually improve, it was easy to move back to more normal interactions.
Regardless of any other problems in the bilateral relationship, it is in the US's interest to maintain easy access to its facilities at McMurdo and the Scott-Amundsen South Pole Research Station, as much as it is in New Zealand's interest to continue cooperating with the US on Antarctica. Neither the US nor New Zealand could afford New Zealand public opinion to turn against the US use of New Zealand facilities to access its key Antarctic stations, all of which are located in the Ross Dependency. However since 1984 (when New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy was first announced) the US has punished New Zealand for its anti-nuclear policy by banning visits to the country from US military vessels (NZPA 2009). The stalemate occurred because New Zealand's anti-nuclear legislation requires that visiting foreign ships must declare if they are nuclear powered or carry nuclear weapons, with which the US still refuses to comply.
The US ban on its naval ships visiting New Zealand has had a small but significant impact on the logistics support provided by the US military which helps move New Zealand scientists to Antarctica. The US ban includes visits to New Zealand of the boats of the US Coast Guard. This means that when the US Coast Guard ice breakers travel to Antarctica to break up the ice in advance of the merchant ships which bring supplies to McMurdo, the South Pole Scott-Amundsen Base, and Scott Base, they must avoid the most obvious port of departure, Christchurch's port Lyttleton, and leave from Hobart, in Australia. US military planes are excluded from the ban on visiting New Zealand, so the Christchurch-McMurdo flights provided by the US Air Force, US Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve (USAP 2009) have continued, unaffected by the controversy over New Zealand's anti-nuclear policy. New Zealand's passing of its anti-nuclear legislation in 1985 led to the US government's suspension of ANZUS obligations to New Zealand. Until that date ANZUS had joined the three countries in a military alliance which had lasted 35 years. Since 1985 New Zealand has been shut out of many aspects of military cooperation with the US. Any joint training exercises require a presidential waiver (NZPA 2009). However, despite the end of ANZUS and the pressure it has put on NZ-US military interactions, each year between 20 and 60 New Zealand Defence Force personnel work alongside the US military in facilitating the NZ-US joint logistics pool and other Antarctic activities (New Zealand Defence Force 2009).
New Zealand also values its Antarctic connections for the opportunity it affords New Zealand diplomats in building common points and opportunities for collaboration with other nations. Currently ANZ has extremely close collaborations with the US, Australian, British, Chilean, German and Italian Antarctic national programmes and it is exploring opportunities for collaboration with the Korean national programme. New Zealand has also facilitated the research of Malaysia's official Antarctic programme in Antarctica. In previous decades Malaysia was one of the leading international critics arguing for Antarctica to be governed by the United Nations. Malaysia is not yet a signatory to the Antarctic Treaty and does not have a base there, but with New Zealand's assistance it is now developing an Antarctic scientific programme which will enable it to join the Antarctic Treaty and become a consultative member (Malaysian Antarctic Research Program 2007). New Zealand's initiative in helping Malaysia to take a positive role in Antarctica illustrates how in the current period New Zealand manages to uphold the Antarctic Treaty and to maintain its own claimant rights.
Separate from these official links, individual Antarctic researchers in New Zealand have established a wide range of research collaborations with their counterparts all over the world. These collaborations also help to strengthen the place of Antarctica in New Zealand's foreign policy while strengthening the perception (one of the desired goals of ANZ), that New Zealand is ‘an intellectual and logistics gateway to Antarctica’ (ANZ 2007).
Conclusion
In the current era New Zealand clearly has a strong interest and a vital need to maintain its foothold in Antarctica, more so than most Antarctic nations. From New Zealand's perspective the current ATS is the most effective and efficient means to maintain its interests in Antarctica. Nevertheless, if the ATS were to collapse, New Zealand's continual efforts to establish a wide ranging pattern of activities, responsibilities, and associations in the territories of the Ross Dependency would help to uphold its claim. New Zealand would never challenge the Antarctic status quo, but it is well aware that there are other nations which are not happy with the way Antarctica is governed and seek major systemic change of the ATS. New Zealand's interests in Antarctica are complex and strongly reflect its geographic proximity. Whatever happens in Antarctica and its surrounding oceans will have a direct impact on New Zealand's economic, political, and environmental security, and New Zealand is fully committed to maintaining its strategic interests there at almost any cost.
