A Labour Government would not join military partnership AUKUS in any form, party leader Chris Hipkins has announced.
“Our country has a fiercely independent foreign policy, and a government I lead will not join pillars one or two of AUKUS,” he said in a speech at the party conference.
“We are proud to stand apart and lead the world being nuclear-free, that is not going to change now.”
AUKUS is a defence agreement, involving nuclear-powered submarines, between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
While New Zealand was not involved in that arrangement, it has been considering a wider defence project called AUKUS pillar II.
This would be a non-nuclear technology sharing and cooperation agreement, but it has not yet been fully formed.
Consideration of this side arrangement began under the Labour Government and was picked up by the Coalition.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has said he sees the AUKUS deal as positive for regional security, but has been non-committal on whether to join Pillar II.
However, his government is generally believed to be wanting to align itself more closely with the United States and sees merit in coordinating around AUKUS.
This approach has some fierce critics, including former Prime Minister Helen Clark.
Hipkins said in his speech Labour had become “deeply concerned” about the coalition moving too close to the US.
“…we spent six years in government diversifying New Zealand’s trade interests and staunchly defending our right to be independent.”
“New Zealand’s foreign policy will not be determined by Washington, Canberra or Beijing,” he said.
While he would want to have strong international relationships if re-elected in 2026, they could not be based on a “nuclear-adjacent platform”.
David Parker, the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, echoed these comments in a press release.
“This does not mean we are non-aligned. We are a liberal western democracy and share those precious values with others”.
“New Zealand’s interests lie in trade, peace, and in on-going diplomacy, not in being a ‘force-multiplier’ for one super-power in a containment strategy directed against another”.
Taking this position will make the AUKUS decision more complicated for the Coalition, as governments generally seek bipartisan support for foreign and defence policies.
However, AUKUS Pillar II has not yet been developed and New Zealand has not even been formally invited to join it.
China, our largest trading partner, opposes AUKUS and will welcome Parker calling it a targeted containment strategy.
42 Comments
The no nukes is a smoke screen, we need to stay neutral, our export industry to China needs to stay uncompromised. That is the bigger picture. We are also geographically in a better position than Australia and lets get honest here we cannot even afford new ferries let alone subs.
Not any more (although perhaps Australians spell it without an X too).
The US has been calling itself the 'World's Policeman' for decades, but the reality has been a resource-grab, facilitated by the elevating of puppets, the fomenting of coups, by full-on wars with false justification in most cases (domino theory, weapons of mass destruction), by puppet-removal when they choose to champion their own, rather than US interests) and by loan-issuance then pound-of-fleshing extraction in lieu.
Meantime, we traversed the peak of globalism trade-wise and are heading down the other side. The time of the US is coming to an end, as it was inevitably going to. Globally, the same limits say we will be hard-put to maintain our own consumption-rates - and others will look at us as pre-thieves. Better we pre-placate...
God defend New Zealand and no one else likely will so that’s about it then seemingly, according to ex PM Hipkins. As expounded, Bob Jones 1984 The New Zealand Party, New Zealand cannot possibly hope to defend itself so why bother trying. Nothing at all has changed since then. The reality, like it or lump it then.
Strawman? Maybe, but not irrelevant.
Pillar One is about building submarines. That they won't be in time to take part (the Limits to Growth apex being here, now) in any stoush, is an irony the MSM doggedly fails to connect the dots to.
Pillar Two is what we are being 'invited' to. Ostensibly 'technology of a militarily useful nature'.
You can't be part of Pillar Two, without being associated with Pillar One. That's a moral sleight-of-hand Hipkins is correct in steering clear of.
I am, largely, very happy with the coalition but I agree with Hipkins/Labour on this. Why do we have to join any particular group of bullies.?
Hopefully the members of the coalition will not want to distinguish themselves against labour on this unnecessary (for NZ) project.
She was vilified by an orchestrated spin-machine - it was very obvious. All of a sudden and all at once, and the GBH's came out of the woodwork on cue.
But she was also in a cleft stick, as are all incumbents from here on in - they have to promise growthresurectionand they cannot deliver. Housing ponzi-resurrection aside...
lol mike, more like runs with the hares and hunts with the sheep. One of the worst and most inept politicians in NZ’s history. Labours “fixit” man who left every portfolio he touched in a worse position than when he began. The laughable thing is, that he failed his way to the very top of the Labour Party 🤣🤣🤣.
Are we thinking about the wrong sort of war? China does not show any interest in military expansion this far south.
But it has managed to establish economic control over nations all over the world including the south Pacific. It already has inroads in New Zealand.
That's the war. We should be seriously building our defense capacity there. First essential step would be to own our own assets, enterprises and companies.
That's the necessary strength.
You have a linear-ly-wired brain, then.
Within a Bounded System (Earth is one, NZ another), a regime of exponential physical growth (extraction/consumption/waste) will hit the Limits at a scope never-before seen. And will be blindsided. And will be chasing its tail all the way dow the other side of the Gaussian.
Nothing to do with raptures or end-times (although perhaps the residual memory of failed civilisations has an echo).
MikeM & In Vino right on the money! How can anybody take this guy seriously? He and Ardern are two of the most incompetent politicians we have ever had to endure! Made a good fist of nearly destroying NZ. Hipkin's also has no hesitation in telling outright lies having been caught out on many occasions. Capabilities of both only suitable to work in the "chippy"! Even there Hipkin's would no doubt be caught telling porkies about the type of fish you were buying!
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