Don McKinnon:Talking shop well worth the effort

The acronym CHOGM means different things to different people. This month, Prime Minister John Key will go to Port of Spain, the capital of Trinidad and Tobago, to attend the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. He will be the 12th New Zealand Prime Minister to do so since World War II.

Is attending CHOGM worthwhile? Despite what some would say, I predictably say yes.

And before the usual obituaries get written about the Commonwealth, let me put the case for continual involvement and support.

Unlike most international organisations, the Commonwealth is not regionally based, as is the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation or the Pacific Forum, or functionally based, such as the World Trade Organisation.

It is global, like the United Nations, but with only 53 counties (as opposed to 192) but covers two billion people in most parts of the globe.

I believe one of the greatest benefits a leader can get at a CHOGM is a commitment from the other 52 members to support an initiative. Any leader going into the UN or other fora with 53 votes is well ahead of the bunch; remembering of course that this support doesn't just come from the Pacific, but from Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean and from three European countries.

Commonwealth leaders over the years have used this mechanism to get support for trade issues, debt write-off mechanisms, criteria for election observation and collectively opposing apartheid in South Africa, to name a few.

Just going to CHOGM is not enough and like anyone seeking support for a cause nothing can beat a face-to-face meeting between two leaders. Yes, leaders can meet at the UN but as John Key will now know, meetings in New York at the UN General Assembly are at high speed, hectic and easily missed. I speak as one who went to these meetings over an 18-year period and know just how chaotic they can be.

Conversely, at a Commonwealth summit there is a large proportion of time alone with other leaders, without armies of distracting officials. Even the formal dinner with the Queen, as head of the Commonwealth, offers time to make a mark.

Key may use the opportunity to seek support for New Zealand's bid to sit on the UN Security Council, or for an Auckland bid for the 2018 Commonwealth Games if one went ahead.

CHOGM is a time for our Prime Minister to speak with Commonwealth leaders he has not already met so they are prepared to respond to a future request. Experience has shown that much can be achieved and a lot of diplomatic sidestepping bypassed when a leader agrees to pick up the phone from another leader.

Only the Commonwealth gives New Zealand an easy entry into Africa and the Caribbean - 30-plus countries with which we do not normally have much regular contact.

Other CHOGM leaders will in turn be keen to meet our Prime Minister as our country has always played a positive role in the Commonwealth. We are more of a giver than a taker and many have benefited from New Zealand expertise in a number of fields.

Let's not, however, discount the fact we are a small country. We usually box above our weight, but we're not one of the five permanent members of the UN, nor one of the G8 nor even one of the G20, as is Australia.

So we have to do things a little differently. Put in more effort both bilaterally, where we deal with other nations on a one-to-one basis, and make the most of multi-lateral meetings.

Our diplomats put in an extraordinary amount of diplomatic effort into all our challenges. This doesn't always win the day but coupled with adroit footwork and leverage by the political leadership it can often put us across the line.

The Commonwealth has a great and enviable history (the first leaders met in the 1870s) but more importantly, it is a contemporary organisation that has firmly enunciated the values in which it believes and stands for. It was the first of only a few international organisations out of hundreds to develop a mechanism to suspend or expel members who persistently violate those core principles.

It has also spawned more than 86 organisations, which have Commonwealth in their name and take advantage of the enormous network of people and countries. The Commonwealth Games is the most prominent but a group such as the Commonwealth Forestry Association does a great job advocating greater forestry planting and sustainable production of trees.

The key this month is Key and I'm sure he'll find that at the end of CHOGM there will be another 30 to 40 leaders he's got to know - who will be prepared to take his calls and who will, in all probability, respond positively to any requests he may make.

Sir Donald McKinnon is a former New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations from 2000 until 2008.