Helen Clark
Helen Clark
Helen Elizabeth Clark ONZ SSIis the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, and was the 37th Prime Minister of New Zealand. As Prime Minister she served three consecutive terms from 1999 to 2008 and was the first woman elected at a general election as the Prime Minister, and was the fifth longest serving person to hold that office. She has been Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, the third-highest UN position, since 2009. In April 2016, she declared...
NationalityNew Zealander
ProfessionPolitician
Date of Birth26 February 1950
CityHamilton, New Zealand
Business can talk itself into a blue funk.
Well of course New Zealand isn't anti-American.
It's fair to say that, for much of my lifetime, New Zealand certainly was a property-owning democracy and working people, ordinary people, had assets.
In the end, there will always be a fundamental difference of perspective between New Zealand and Australia on defense, whoever is in government.
If you neglect those who are currently poor and stable, you may create more poor and unstable people. There has been a tremendous concentration of donor interest in countries that are seen as particularly fragile - but it becomes harder to mobilise money for sub-Saharan, plain poor countries.
I've been round Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, and China in the last few months and the message that I've been taking is that New Zealand is building an up market dynamic into a connected economy. And that we are not the old-fashioned, ship mutton kind of product the people associate their export in work.
I'm not into power for the sake of it.
I think that generally New Zealand is respected for the positions it takes because it thinks them through.
I have no beliefs of a religious kind.
Fortunately New Zealand doesn't have land borders so we are able to be somewhat more rigorous on who gets in and out of our country than perhaps some people.
In terms of having views and being prepared to express them, yes, I think New Zealand's had a leadership role in a lot of things.
Marine protected areas, and particularly no-take zones, are very effective in allowing regeneration of fish stocks.
Never look back' is my philosophy.
Of course as a small country you're not necessarily in the strongest negotiating position unless you're negotiating with other small countries.