Protecting Antarctica: Strengthening the Antarctic Treaty System for Future Generations

Honourable Andrew Bayly, Chair of the Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly 2025, delegate Parliamentarians, expert speakers, Ambassadors, Members of Parliament, and distinguished guests from the New Zealand Antarctic community, I would like to thank Mr Mark Stewart and Ainsley Walter, for their generous sponsorship of the Assembly’s dinner this evening and for Mark’s contribution, over many years as former Chair of the Antarctic Heritage Trust.  Mark and Ainsley are represented tonight by Nigel Watson, Executive Director of Masthead.

Good afternoon, and welcome to the New Zealand Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly.

It is a privilege to join you today to deliver the keynote address on behalf of New Zealand’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Rt Honourable Winston Peters.

I am also honoured to be among the five minsters who had the opportunity to visit Antarctica during this parliamentary term.

It was truly an eye-opening experience to not only take in the vast, silent and breathtaking environment, but also to see firsthand the research they have ongoing on the ground.

New Zealand’s Antarctic History Few places on earth capture the imagination like Antarctica.

New Zealand’s proud Antarctic history began almost 200 years ago and is connected to this same spirit.

New Zealander, Frank Worsley was a gifted seamen and navigator who was famously hired by Shackleton on the spot for his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914, as captain of the HMS Endurance.

After the Endurance became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915 - Shackleton, Worsley and 26 other men were forced to abandon ship.

Worsley’s role was crucial, navigating three lifeboats to Elephant Island and then to a whaling station in South Georgia, through treacherous conditions.

The story of the Endurance is a testament to the power of perseverance and teamwork in the face of adversity; the importance of effective leadership; and adaptability and flexibility when faced with unexpected challenges and changing circumstances.

In 1957, Sir Edmund Hillary established Scott Base, New Zealand’s permanent Antarctic research station, to support the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition.

Hillary’s famous ‘dash to the pole’ was the first since Scott to reach the South Pole overland, and the first in motor vehicles.

30 years later, his son Peter Hillary – who is speaking at tonight’s Assembly dinner – skied to the South Pole from Ross Island, pioneering a new route up the Shackleton Glacier.

The same courage, perseverance, adaptability and human ingenuity that characterised these heroic explorers, infuses the story of the Antarctic Treaty.

Antarctic Treaty Last Monday, Antarctica Day, commemorated the signing of the Antarctic Treaty in Washington DC on 1 December 1959.

Sixty-six years ago, 12 nations including New Zealand, gathered at a conference on the political and international status of Antarctica.

The resulting Antarctic Treaty, signed by all 12 nations, covers all the area south of latitude 60°.

The Treaty’s preamble recognises that it is in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord.

Adopted during the Cold War, it has become one of our most unique, enduring and successful international agreements.

The Antarctic Treaty commits its now 58 parties to using Antarctica for peaceful purposes only and promotes international scientific cooperation.

The potential for disputes over territorial claims is set aside, military activity is outlawed, and Antarctica is the world’s first nuclear weapon-free zone.

The Treaty also guarantees freedom of scientific investigation and promotes international research cooperation, in the spirit of the International Geophysical Year.

This science has taught us that what happens in Antarctica matters to us all. For example, important research like modelling ice sheets to better predict sea-level rise gives us information to help us prepare for and respond to future climate challenges.

New Zealand remains committed to conserving and protecting the Antarctic and working with international partners to uphold the Antarctic Treaty System.

These international rules and norms protect Antarctica and its surrounding Southern Ocean.

However, we cannot take these achievements for granted.

The international order that has sustained peace for the past 80 years stands on the precipice of breaking down.

The shift in the international order from rules to power continues its malignant path and impacts deeply on perceptions of the broader legitimacy of the multilateral rules-based system.

It has never been more apparent just how much diplomacy and the tools of statecraft matter in our troubled world.

Although the Antarctic is geographically isolated and the Parties to the Antarctic Treaty are spread across the world, Antarctica is affected by this shifting geopolitical landscape.

We face these challenges together, with far greater understanding about how our regions are inter-connected.

Antarctic Treaty System The Antarctic Treaty System provides the framework to continue responding to challenges facing the Antarctic – whether sea level rise, warming oceans, or strategic competition for resources.

As supporters, promoters and spokespeople for the Antarctic and the Antarctic Treaty System we can share the message in our communities, through the media, with policy and decision-makers, and with our partners internationally.

This requires us to correct any myths that arise regarding the health of the Antarctic Treaty System. I would like to address some of these myths.

First, there is a widely promulgated, but false, narrative that the Antarctic Treaty or its Protocol on Environmental Protection will expire in 2048 – with the implication that the current ban on mining would end. This is not accurate.

Neither the Treaty nor the Protocol on Environmental Protection has an expiry date.

From 2048 any party can request a review of the Protocol.  However, any amendment requested under a review would require agreement by three-quarters of the Consultative Parties, including all Parties as at 1991.

Any amendment of the mining prohibition further requires a binding legal regime on mineral resource activities to have been negotiated and agreed.

These thresholds and safeguards mean that both the Treaty, and the Environmental Protocol and its mining ban, are indefinite.

The second myth is that support for the Antarctic Treaty System is wavering. Some have tried to represent disagreements and negotiations amongst Antarctic Parties – which are normal and to be expected – as evidence of the system wavering.

That is not true. Support for the Antarctic Treaty and its related instruments remains strong amongst all its Parties which is proven through the Paris Declaration in 2021 and Helsinki Declaration in 2023.

You may have heard the narrative that the ATS can’t handle potential future challenges – things like resource competition, demand for more fishing, tourism impacts, bioprospecting or geopolitical realities.  That somehow, we would be better off walking away from it. This is not the case.

The Antarctic Treaty System is fully capable of managing these issues. Every country represented here today, and many others, is part of the Antarctic Treaty System.  Contemporary issues are regularly addressed in Treaty System meetings.

While we are not naive to the risks and the challenges, we are confident the system provides us with the best framework for robust governance of the Antarctic region, for the benefit of all.

New Zealand firmly believes that we all must continue supporting the Antarctic Treaty System, so that it will endure this new era.

This is why New Zealand is seeking to energise a wide range of international partners to maximise support for Antarctic rules and norms.  New Zealand has also recently refreshed its Statement of Commitment to Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.

It is also why we are pleased to host this meeting of the Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly.  It is another valuable strand to our shared efforts to raise awareness of the Antarctic’s value, and to reinforce the Treaty System that protects it.

Concluding remarks Tomorrow, Assembly delegates will consider how Parliamentarians can support the Antarctic and Treaty System.

My challenge to you and your fellow parliamentarians at home, is to consider how you can support and safeguard this successful system that we already have.

It would be impossible, in today’s world, to create such a unique, visionary and comprehensive system from scratch.

We must do this together. We need to speak up for the Antarctic and the Treaty system, including to bust myths. If we work collectively and creatively within the Treaty System, we can respond to new challenges.

We are the current navigators and captains of the Treaty System. We must show some of the same courage, ingenuity and adaptability that Worsley and Hillary showed, for this current stage of the voyage.

There are few places in the world where there has never been war, where the environment is fully protected, and where scientific research has priority. Antarctica is one of them.  And it is thanks to the Antarctic Treaty System that this endures.

Thank you.