I believe, Labour looks set to make a return and relieve the public from a controversy ridden second term of Mr. Key? Do you share that confidence?

I do, the more that I go around our communities, the more I feel that the National government has been out of touch down with the problems and controversies surrounding them. I feel that they are out of touch with what most New Zealander’s want.

People are looking for an alternative and the challenge for us is to look like we are ready to take on the government.

How do you propose, as a shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, to strengthen ties with India?

We can do much more with India; I am surprised, for example, in terms of trade.

Also, we should recognize that strategically, India is a very important player on the world stage. And, in terms of defense, we don’t have a defense attaché in Delhi. Given the size and influence of India’s forces, we should be much more connected to India. I would like to try and build that connection on a greater variety of levels.

With a large number of people coming to New Zealand, I would want to make sure that their experience here is enjoyable and one that they can share; you should never underestimate the people to people links.

I think we have a lot of commonalities and we should build on them.

In terms of Indian qualifications, and businesses, how can we expect the future New Zealand government to help promote that?

I think we must take that into consideration when people come here. If there is any suggestion that we are not doing that, then we should go back and take another look. Sometimes within NZ, there is a tendency for businesses to not employ Indian graduates, over Pakehas, but I think it is changing slowly.

We do assess qualifications according to our standards, but if a qualification is recognised internationally, then there isn’t any reason why we should be differentiating.

Leadership issues are still being asked of Labour; do you think that is an unsettling question, even at this stage of the election year?

It isn’t helpful and I hope the leadership elections that we had last year would have put the issue behind us. We have one leader, certainly in the caucus and I am a part of that too. There isn’t any doubt that David Cunliffe will lead us to the elections, and we are completely behind him.

As an international statesman, what do you think, NZ needs to do, to make an impression for the United Nations Security Council seat?

Our strengths are that we are a transparent and honest country and we stick to our word. So what we have been saying to the other countries is that if you vote for us, we will stand by our commitments that we make to you now. We will also try and give 104 of those small countries a voice.

I think we are doing quite a good job at the moment. We are up against some tough competitors who are in our group, like Spain and Turkey.

I was in New York last year, where I met a number of representatives from other countries; my message to them was that irrespective of which government comes in to power, it is a bi-partisan approach; it’s about New Zealand and about doing the right thing.

Coming back to issues here in New Zealand; Do you think that National raising the issue of a referendum for the flag, is more of a means to take the attention away from the real issues?

I think, it was used as means, of John Key raising it at a particular time, to keep the attention on himself, so it was more of a political technique.

But personally I think, it is time to change the New Zealand flag. At this point, it looks very much like the Australian flag, with the flag of another country in the corner; the only difference is the number of stars.

I look at the flag of Canada, and it’s instantly recognisable. So, I think it’s time we changed ours.

What is your message for the Indian community, during the election year?

Anyone who ignores the Indian community, should not be in politics. I think, from Labour’s point of view, the Indian community have always been supportive of us and we will be supportive of the Indian community, when in government. We see the Indian community as a vibrant, hardworking, highly educated community that pushes our GDP well beyond their numbers on average.

If you don’t take them seriously, then you shouldn’t be in politics!