Sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui: Parliament reacts

By Louis Collins

"The government recognises the high level of public interest in the matter and will continue to keep the New Zealand public informed as new information comes to light."

This was the mantra relayed by acting Defence Minister Chris Penk during Tuesday's Ministerial Statement on the sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui.

In layman's terms, Penk is saying "be patient, we're working on it".

This message was, of course, interspersed with notions of acknowledgement for the bravery of the rescuers and the 75 Naval personnel who were on board, along with thanks to the Samoan government for their "support and patience".

This audio is not downloadable due to copyright restrictions.

A naval vessel sinking is a big deal. It's the first time during peacetime New Zealand's navy has lost a ship. Because of the high level of public interest in the Manawanui, the government deemed it a big enough deal to warrant a Ministerial Statement on the matter.

Ministerial Statements are non-legislative items of business that fall under the overarching responsibility of members of the Executive, (Ministers), being accountable to the House.

They resemble a press conference, with a Minister or Associate Minister delivering a statement, followed by questions or comments from party leaders or leader- nominated members, who are generally spokespersons on the relevant topic.

Past Ministerial Statements have been on topics such as the outbreak of war, defence deployments, a natural disaster, the release of a significant government report, and other events or developments that the government knows the public want to know about.

The gist of the statement

A CliffsNotes version of Penks' statement would probably include the following:

• On 5 October 2024, HMNZS Manawanui sank off the coast of Samoa after hitting a reef, following a successful evacuation of all Navy personnel.
• The government wants to mitigate any detrimental environmental impacts and is working with relevant authorities, including those on the ground in Samoa, to evaluate salvage options.
• Despite losing their specialist diving and hydrographic vessel, the Navy still has capabilities in those areas, but the concept of longer term replacements will be explored.
• A Court of Inquiry (COI) has been launched, which is a method the armed forces can use to gather facts on a matter of significance.
• Consequently, Penk said people shouldn't speculate on the underlying causes of the sinking or the process for dealing with the issue until the inquiry had been concluded.

Any questions from the floor?

Not only is a Ministerial Statement useful to the public in gauging the scope of an issue of interest, but it is equally an opportunity for Opposition parties to question the government outside of the more procedurally confined Question Time.

During Ministerial Statements, you can generally expect to see the Opposition expressing their acknowledgement of the event, then turning their attention to the scrutiny of the government's approach to the event. For Labour on Tuesday, it was former Defence Minister Peeni Henare doing exactly this.

First an apology.

"On behalf of Labour, we apologise to Samoa-in particular, the community of Upolu and the large Samoan community here in Aotearoa New Zealand. We know this is an important matter to you all."

Then came the scrutiny.

"Does the Minister agree with recent reports that have described the Minister's attitude towards feedback from Samoan locals as 'dismissive' and that the relationship between New Zealand and Samoa is not on good terms at the moment; if not, why not?"

Unsurprisingly, Penk responded with a denial of the suggestion that the government was being dismissive, and maintained that the joint task force dealing with the event was doing everything it could to mitigate environmental effects and communicate with relevant stakeholders.

Other lines of questioning in the exchange between the former and acting Defence Ministers were focused on whether the inquiry should have been independent, what the monetary cost of the event was, and whether the government was planning on paying any form of compensation to Samoa.

In a nutshell, Penk outlined that a COI was the appropriate forum "in accordance with the Armed Forces Discipline Act". Regarding costs and compensation, Penk said it would be "premature and therefore unhelpful" to offer hypothetical answers to both of these queries.

The Green Party's nominated speaker Teanau Tuiono was relatively free from adversarialism in his line of questioning, more so asking for clarification rather than making suggestions the government's response had been lacklustre.

"What is actually being put in place? What are the time frames that have been put in place? Will there be communications made to communities not only in Samoa but also here in Aotearoa?"

With footage surfacing online and in the media of oil- doused marine flora and fauna, much of the public interest in the Manawanui's sinking has been on the environmental impact. Tuiono's other questions sought to gauge the scale of that impact.

"I'm not an engineer, but 950 tonnes of diesel trapped at the bottom of the ocean is not going to stay down there. So what are the plans and the time frames in terms of that clean-up response as well? I think it would be important for the government to answer, to the extent that it is able, to what the plan is specifically."

Penk treated Tuiono's questions relatively hospitably, but ultimately still reiterated the mantra of "we're working on it".

"I acknowledge, in the first instance, the anxiety that the member has rightly pointed out that members of the Samoan community in New Zealand, as well as, of course, in Samoa itself, will be feeling, and I think that is a very fair point that he emphasises. Again, I reiterate, on behalf of the government, that we understand and acknowledge those concerns. We are doing everything that we can to understand the extent of any possible environmental impact and are doing everything that we can, including to arrange salvage."

To listen to the audio version of this story, click the link at the top of the article.

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