NZ won't 'buy' Security Council seat: McCully

New Zealand will not use "chequebook" campaign tactics in its bid for election to the United Nations Security Council and would rather lose with honour, says Foreign Minister Murray McCully.

Nor would New Zealand change its policy positions to court votes.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully in a speech tonight spelled out New Zealand's case for election to the post in 2015-16.

He said the Government has appointed several people to help lobby for New Zealand, including former Foreign Minister and former Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Don McKinnon and former diplomat Colin Keating, who served at the United Nations the last time New Zealand had a seat on the Security Council, 1993-94.

Mr McCully said New Zealand's conditions defied accepted wisdom of modern Security Council campaigns.

"That view holds that contested Security Council seats will always fall to the highest bidder of aid dollars, or to the holder of the most flexible positions on the controversial foreign policy issues of the day," he said in a speech to the Institute of International Affairs in Wellington.

"If the proponents of that view are correct, then we will lose our bid for a Security Council seat for 2015-16.

"The Prime Minister's approach and my own approach is that we would rather lose with honour than trade overseas development assistance or policy positions for Security Council votes."

Spain and Turkey are also seeking election for the two seats open to the grouping known as 'Western Europe and others.' The vote is in 2014.