Helen Clark fears new defence moves suggest NZ 'abandoning its capacity to think for itself'
Saturday, 5 August 2023
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark fears defence and security strategy documents released by the Government on Friday suggest New Zealand is “abandoning its capacity to think for itself”.
In a thread on X – formerly Twitter – Clark said that rather than thinking for itself, this country was instead “cutting & pasting” from its partners in the Five Eyes intelligence alliance – US, UK, Australia, Canada.
“Drumbeat from officials has been consistent on this for some time,” Clark said in the post.
”Now there appears to be an orchestrated campaign on joining the so-called “Pillar 2” of #AUKUS, which is a new defence grouping in the Anglosphere with hard power based on nuclear weapons.”
New Zealand had removed itself from “such a vice” when it adopted its nuclear free policy, Clark said.
So far, the countries in Aukus are Australia, UK and US. The initial thrust of the arrangement is to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in coming decades.
Much of Clark’s thread highlights quotes from an article in The Post by University of Otago international relations specialist Robert G Patman, headlined: “The case for New Zealand staying on the outside of Aukus”.
Launching the defence and security documents on Friday, Defence Minister Andrew Little said changes in the domestic and international security environment meant this country’s response and preparedness must change too.
“This means we must be prepared to equip ourselves with trained personnel, assets and material, and appropriate international relationships in order to protect our own defence and national security.”
In her online thread, Clark said she agreed with Patman that: “On balance, detachment from #Aukus seems a much less risky option than partial membership through Pillar 2.”
”IMHO NZ needs a full public debate on this & not an officialdom-driven realignment,” Clark said.
Clark then has a bit of a disagreement with John Blaxland, Professor of International Security and Intelligence Studies at the Australian National University.
Blaxland said he was “surprised at the adversarial tone” taken to three of New Zealand’s closest partner nations.
He also questioned the reliance on “one person’s views (Patman’s) as the sole point of reference to discount entirely a non-nuclear dimension to security in Aukus Pillar 2”.
“This critique plays into PRC (People’s Republic of China) hands, echoing rhetoric one would expect to see in The Global Times (an English-language Chinese newspaper linked to the Chinese Communist Party).
”That’s OTT,” Clark responded. “You may not agree with the point of view, but that’s not a good reason for casting slurs on others.”
Blaxland insisted no smear was intended, and said he was “a fan” of Clark, who was “a great person”.
”But I'm still surprised at the position you take. Are there no redeeming features to working with century-spanning security partners on one of their most important collaborative projects, Track 2?”
In the article that ran in The Post, Patman summed up Aukus like this:
”The Aukus security partnership consists of two pillars. Pillar 1 involves Australia receiving 8-10 nuclear powered-submarines from its Aukus partners during the next three decades.
“Pillar 2 involves the sharing of information in cutting-edge defence technologies, including artificial intelligence, quantum capabilities and cybersecurity.”
Aukus was publicly unveiled in September 2021, with a pathway setting out how Australia would acquire nuclear-powered submarines made public in March 2023.
The first US nuclear-powered submarine to visit Australia since that announcement arrived on Friday at the Australian Navy’s Stirling facility, on an island off the south Perth coast.
The Virginia-class USS North Carolina had been taking part in military exercises off Queensland.