Helen Clark: Attacks highlight need for vigilance and preparation

Helen Clark

The terrible terrorist bombings in London remind us of our good fortune in this part of the world while reinforcing that we have no room for complacency or thoughts that this could never happen to us.

At such a time, New Zealanders feel instinctively the close bonds that connect us to Britain. Not only do most of us have family or friends in London, but many of us have been on those same streets or in the same Underground stations where the bombings took place. Our reaction is also one of revulsion and outrage at the nature of such attacks on innocent people.

There is no excuse whatsoever for bombings like this. No cause justifies this sort of violence against innocent people going about their daily business.

Ever since September 11, 2001, New Zealand has been, and remains, an active contributor to increased international efforts against terrorist networks. We are committed to international and regional counter-terrorism co-operation, and to further improving our own counter-terrorism capability.

The most prominent part of our contribution to the international efforts has been our deployments to Afghanistan, where the New Zealand Defence Force is playing an important role in bringing stability and peace. The work of our 123-strong provincial reconstruction team in Afghanistan has been outstanding and is highly regarded.

Last month, with my colleague Defence Minister Mark Burton, I announced the third rotation of SAS personnel to Afghanistan as part of New Zealand's ongoing commitment to the international effort against terrorism. With parliamentary and provincial elections in Afghanistan scheduled for September, improving security helps ensure that the elections are fair and credible, and will help bring stability to the country and the region.

What this terror attack shows is that however well prepared a country is - as the United Kingdom is - people determined to kill themselves and others can make their way through.

I can reassure the public that we are taking every reasonable step to protect New Zealand from such an attack. In the past few years, we have been very focused on the need to increase our capacity to deal with such events.

One of the features of the emergency response in London in recent days has been the overwhelming impression that each part of the emergency services knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it in co-ordination with other services. I am confident that our emergency services are similarly well prepared.

The events in London on Thursday night sent shock waves of revulsion and sadness through our country. We prepare to ensure as best we can that such terrible events will never happen here.

* Helen Clark is Prime Minister of New Zealand.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY