After initially supporting the government’s overtures to join the second pillar of the AUKUS pact, the NZ Labour Party appears to have reversed position, with both the foreign affairs and associate foreign affairs spokespeople characterising it as unnecessarily aggressive positioning towards Beijing.
After a meeting between the Foreign and Defence Ministers of Australia and New Zealand at the end of January, Australia said it would be sending officials to New Zealand soon for further talks.
The government, however, remains committed to the path set by the joint talks.
Attitude Turns Cold
Previously, Labour had taken a similar perspective. When it was in power, then-Defence Minister Andrew Little said he was keen to explore greater interoperability with Australia, particularly as both countries embark on reviewing the state of their equipment.The government also said it was “willing to explore” participating in Pillar Two of AUKUS, which focuses on developing and sharing military technology.
But Mr. Little has since retired from politics, and the party has given the clearest indication yet that its previous lukewarm support for AUKUS has gone decidedly cold.
Labour’s associate foreign affairs spokesperson Phil Twyford called the agreement an “offensive warfighting alliance against China,” saying that if the government wished to take such a position “it needs to tell New Zealanders this.”
“If there’s a war in the South China Sea ... is it this government’s intention to be dragged into that conflict on the side of the U.S.?” he said in Parliament.
“New Zealand’s interests lie in supporting peace, trade, international cooperation, the United Nations, not throwing our weight behind one superpower in its struggle against another.
“What we’re seeing is a 21st-century version of the old saying, ‘Where Britain goes, we go.’ Except, under this government, it’s now, ‘When Washington calls and says, ’Will you jump?‘ We say, ’How high?'”
Beijing’s Assertiveness ‘Not Surprising’
Mr. Twyford appeared to defend Beijing’s actions in the South China Sea, which recently included deploying sonar in an attack on Australian naval personnel, causing minor injuries.“Is there any evidence that China poses a military threat to New Zealand—that they have some kind of plan to invade us? There isn’t a skerrick of evidence to suggest that,” he said.
“Yes, China is becoming more assertive internationally, but is that a surprise? They’re now close to rivalling the U.S. as the world’s largest economy. Surely it shouldn’t surprise that they don’t want the U.S. seventh fleet patrolling just off their coastline.”
Labour foreign affairs spokesman David Parker said Australian officials “will probably be trying to sell [AUKUS],” but that both the benefits and disadvantages must be looked at.
Referring to Defence Minister Judith Collin’s warning that New Zealand must “not freeload” in its defence relationships, Mr. Parker said: “I’m not really interested in jingoistic phrases, I’m interested in serious consideration.”
Don’t Want Beijing as a Foe: Parker
“We don’t want to position China as a foe. We’ve got a good relationship with them. We don’t agree with them on everything and there are some things that we have quite different values on, including the rights of minorities, for example,” Mr. Parker said.However, he did not explicitly commit Labour to a position of calling on the government to cease exploring the idea.
He said they were “questioning its utility and whether it is wise” because Labour “remain unconvinced that pillar two offers us anything new that we don’t already have” and an interoperable military could, and was, being achieved outside of it.
Ships Can’t Sail, Planes Can’t Fly
Despite Ms. Collins’ rhetoric, New Zealand is likely to become increasingly reliant on its allies—particularly Australia—because the government has told public agencies to cut spending by 6 to 7 percent at a time when much of its military equipment is at end-of-life and needs either replacing or expensive upgrades.A case in point is the naval helicopter fleet, which will cost over $1 billion (US$613 million) to replace.
Meanwhile, in 21 months to April 2023, the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) lost almost a third of its uniformed service personnel, meaning New Zealand’s military can’t adequately staff ships and planes.
The most commonly cited reason for people leaving was poor pay with just 18 percent of those in the Army saying they were paid fairly and 70 percent of those leaving the Air Force saying low pay was a trigger to quit.
An NZDF “interim workforce plan,” issued in May 2023, said it tried to pay within five percent of market rates for jobs, but it had “not been achievable since 2018 due to insufficient funding.”
