Warning Aukus nuclear-powered submarines could ‘inflame’ tensions in region

Thursday, 18 April 2024

Speaking from the Phillipines, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says New Zealand still has an interest in being involved in the security partnership.

The Labour Party held a public panel discussion about Pillar II of the Aukus security pact on Thursday.
It comes after Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters promises an “ever closer” relationship with the US.
Peters is back in the country after a world tour where he held official talks with Belgium, Egypt, the European Union, Netherlands, Poland, South Korea, Sweden, Ukraine, the United Kingdom the United States, as well as the leadership of the United Nations, NATO and the Arab League.

Political figures from Australia and the Pacific have given stark warnings against joining Aukus, suggesting the security pact will have serious consequences for New Zealand’s independent foreign policy and potentially leave nuclear waste in the region.

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark at the Labour-organised public discussion at Parliament on the Aukus security partnership.

The Labour Party on Thursday convened a symposium where political leaders - including former Prime Minister Helen Clark and Australia’s former foreign minister Bob Carr, and Tuvalu’s former prime minister Enele Sopoaga - cautioned against joining as an associate of the Aukus security pact, an agreement between the US and Britain to give Australia nuclear-powered submarines and share technology.

The trilateral agreement is widely perceived as a way to counterbalance China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific, a vast biographic region stretching from the Pacific coastline to the Indian Ocean and comprising nearly half the world’s people.

Carr went as far as to described the agreement as 'fragrant, methane-wrapped bull….“

The breakdown

Former Australia Foreign Minister Bob Carr cautions against joining Aukus.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, speaking from the Phillipines where he is leading a trade and business delegation, said the government’s position on Aukus is the same as is it was under Labour, and rejected that his government was compromising New Zealand’s independent foreign policy.

He added “there are 195 countries in the world and they all have their own unique foreign policy”.

“All we are saying is that we are open to exploring opportunities under pillar 2 under Aukus and so it’s a little bit confusing to be honest,” he said of Labour’s concerns.

This was despite Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters promising an ever-closer relationship with the US last Friday during a visit to Washington DC.

In a statement, he pointed to the “great potential for collaboration” and said arrangements, including Aukus, contribute to peace and prosperity in the region and are powerful reasons for New Zealand to engage practically with them.

Professor Robert Patman, who spoke at the symposium, said Peters had made a link between Aukus and closer relations with the US, which had not been made under Labour.

Carr said the Aukus deal has been “cobbled together” and warned America can “turn on a dime” in its foreign policy, as it has in its approach to funding Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.

New Zealand did not need to join Aukus in order to be listened to by the US, he added.

“Australia and New Zealand will be listened to by both sides. Because the relationship with Australia and New Zealand is very important in Beijing and in Washington.”

Sopoaga, who was representing Pacific Elders’ Voice, a group of former leaders, also warned allowing nuclear-powered submarines into the Pacific would only “inflame” tensions, and questioned what would happen when they were no longer needed.

“We are creating a contaminated region for decades to come,” he said.