"New Zealand at the United Nations"

Friday May 9 was the initial first half of the UNANZ conference, which as mentioned, was held at parliament in the Legislative Council Chamber. To begin, the conference was opened by MP Dr. Kennedy Graham, and then the National President of UNANZ, Graham Hassall. This was when I had to step up my game and snag some quality photos! Graham had told me that he wanted some detailed close up shots, and assured me that no one would be offended if I was blocking their view.

The first speaker for the conference was one of the most interesting in my opinion. Ms Charlotte Darlow is from The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. She spoke about how New Zealand has been contributing to the United Nations and the role that is has to play. She also spoke of the chances New Zealand has at gaining a seat on the UN Security Council. New Zealand is up against Italy and Turkey. Even though New Zealand is the smallest out of the 3, Charlotte was confident that New Zealand still had a good chance at gaining a seat because of New Zealand's stability as a country, and its anti-nuclear views which is shared and supported by a lot of other countries in the world.

The second speaker was Rachael Milicich from Statistics New Zealand. Rachael was followed by Col. Martin Dransfield from the New Zealand Defence Force. He spoke about what it means to work as a Peacekeeper for the New Zealand Army. One of the areas he concentrated on was work that NZ Peacekeepers had been doing in Bougainville and East Timor.

The Conference

The day finally arrived when I was to attend the 2014 UNANZ National Conference on 9/10 May. It was definitely an experience I will never forget. The first day was held at the old parliament building, and the second at Victoria University. I was lucky enough to stay with a friend who lives in Wellington Central so I was in walking distance of both Parliament and Victoria.

Even though New Zealand is a small country at the bottom of the Pacific, I was still in awe of the magnificence of Wellington Parliament. The Beehive is a massive building with a strong presence, and the old parliament building is just as impressive. When I arrived, the National President of UNANZ Graham Hassall showed me to the the room where the conference was to be held. It was a grand old room which started filling up with guests at about 9am.

A surprising twist for me was that on the day, it was realized that the photographer for the day had not shown up. It is important to showcase these types of events to put photos in the newsletter and upload pictures to the website, so Graham asked if I could take the photos for the day with his camera. I was more than happy, seeing as I don't have any experience as a photographer! I also took some of my own pictures using my iPhone which I have used for my blog.