Grant Robertson

Wellington, April 21 NZPA - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's words of hate should not be allowed to undermine a United Nations conference on racism, Labour MP Grant Robertson says.

The Iranian President prompted a rare walk-out at the UN on Monday when he called Israel a "cruel and repressive racist regime" at the conference.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored the address which prompted dozens of delegates to leave their seats, further undermining the summit which some Western countries including New Zealand are boycotting.

Foreign Minister Murray McCully this week said the conference was unlikely to advance race relations and he was concerned the conference would produce "the same kind of rancorous and unproductive debate that took place in 2001".

The last UN meeting called to condemn racism ended in chaos when Muslim delegates tried to insert language into a declaration defining Zionism as racist.

Prime Minister John Key shared the concerns.

"We believe it would restrict the freedom of expression, the second thing was that we believe that the conference would create a platform for attacks on Israel, and we believe we are in good company."

The Greens and Labour thought New Zealand should attend and Mr Robertson this morning said words of hate should not be allowed to undermine the overall aim of the conference.

"Racism in all its forms is abhorrent and there should be strong condemnation and a commitment by world leaders to overcoming it," he said.

"We need serious engagement, and despite this speech, this conference offers the opportunity for that to happen."

Mr Robertson said the work of the hundreds of attending delegates should not be undermined.

He said New Zealand's views could have been heard at the conference.

"New Zealanders are justifiably proud of our independent stance on the world stage. We need to continue this approach and be at the table to put our views forward rather than simply becoming a follower of other countries' foreign policy."

Other countries boycotting the conference included the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Israel and Germany.

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