'Day the world changed'

By JOHN ROUGHAN

All parties in Parliament agreed yesterday that the world will never be the same.

After observing a minute's silence for the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, speakers from each party in turn expressed shock and outrage.

"This is a grim day," said Acting Prime Minister Jim Anderton. "The shock waves are rippling around the globe. Evil people have conspired to commit a cold and vicious act, not just against the American people but against humanity itself."

National deputy leader Bill English said: "This has the feeling of a day on which the world has changed. There are threats to freedom and security. If we were not sure yesterday, we know today."

For Labour, Finance Minister Michael Cullen said: "This is a day that gives us all reason to think about the world in which we live. It emphasises its peculiar fragility and inter-relationships."

Winston Peters, the New Zealand First leader, said: "Every now and then there is a cataclysmic event that stops the world, that defies comprehension. As the world condemns this insane act we must act as one. The 21st Century will be a very different place because of today's events."

The Greens' Rod Donald said: "Today is a turning point for humankind. We dedicate ourselves to peaceful solutions to the challenges before us."

Some had wanted Parliament to adjourn for the day as a mark of respect.

But Act's Richard Prebble explained why his party would not agree.

"The crashing of those planes was an attack on democracy. Halting our Parliament is just what those terrorists wanted."

New Zealand's was "the first parliament in the world to meet after this attack", he said.

"Our forefathers didn't close this Parliament for Hitler and we won't close for this terrorist. The way we fight back is by refusing to change our lives. To have business as usual, to have freedom as usual."

Breaking the harmony of the addresses, the Act leader said the House had to ask "searching questions" of the Government as to whether New Zealanders were safe from terrorism in this country.

He cited the flour bombing of Eden Park during the 1981 Springbok test as "an act of terrorism from the skies in this country".

And noting that F-16 fighters had been scrambled yesterday when the US authorities feared further hijackings, he said: "Today we have the option of shooting down such a plane. This time next year [when the Skyhawks have gone] we could not."

The best weapon against terrorism was intelligence, he said. "Let's have no more suggestions that New Zealand should abandon the SIS, or the Government Intelligence Bureau, or our involvement in Waihopai."

United's Peter Dunne said: "The surreal world of the blockbuster movie became a tragic reality.

"Those of us who may have thought that sort of fiction could never happen have had the scales well and truly lifted from our eyes."

* New Zealand religious leaders condemned the attacks.

Cardinal Thomas Williams, the Catholic Archbishop of Wellington, has invited all New Zealanders to pray for the victims and for all those affected by yesterday's tragedies.

Dr Anwar Ghani, of the Federation of Islamic Associations, expressed total condemnation of the attacks, describing them as cowardly and despicable.

He said that such acts of terrorism are fundamentally un-Islamic and against all the principles of his faith.

Full coverage: Terror in America

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