We aren’t ‘freeloaders’, and we won’t be changing our nuclear-free policy, PM says
Tuesday, 2 June 2026
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has dismissed a US suggestion that New Zealand is 'freeloading' on defence and ruled out changing the country's nuclear-free policy.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said New Zealand's defence spending rising to 2% of GDP was not enough and termed it 'freeloading'.
Defence Minister Chris Penk said New Zealand should have a conversation about its anti-nuclear policy, which Labour leader Chris Hipkins called 'absolutely outrageous'.
Luxon said New Zealand's nuclear-free position will not change while he is prime minister, and stated Penk could have expressed himself better.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has dismissed the suggestion that New Zealand is “freeloading” on US defence, and ruled out a change to the country’s nuclear-free policy.
Over the weekend, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said New Zealand’s spending on defence - rising to 2% of GDP after a $1.5 billion boost in last week’s Budget - was not enough.
“Two percent is freeloading,” Hegseth told a security summit in Singapore, saying nations should commit 3.5%. “I don’t have anything against New Zealand, I want partners to step up,” he added.
Also at the summit was Defence Minister Chris Penk, who told Bloomberg Television New Zealand should have “a conversation” about its long-standing anti-nuclear policy as Australia moves towards acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.
“It might be an interesting conversation in terms of the extent to which that [nuclear weapons are] different to nuclear propulsion,” Penk said. Australia’s move meant “it would be helpful for us to have that conversation in New Zealand,” he added.
On Tuesday, Luxon addressed both issues, rejecting Hegseth’s argument and saying New Zealand’s long-standing nuclear-free position would remain in place.
Aotearoa had its “own independent foreign policy,” he told Newstalk ZB, and “we choose our defence spending - no one else does that”.
Defence spending had been “run down over 30 years,” Luxon said, due to what had been “a very benign [global] environment” since the end of the Cold War, but increasing it to 2% showed New Zealand’s commitment to contributing to global security.
Luxon said the country was faced with a host of international security issues, from interrupted shipping routes, noting the effectively closed Strait of Hormuz, to powerful states acting aggressively in different parts of the world.
Asked if New Zealand had acted as “freeloaders” over the past three decades, Luxon said, “No, absolutely not”.
Addressing the nuclear-free issue, Luxon said “we’re gonna maintain our position”.
“We’ve got a long-standing position from ’87, it’s across the political spectrum,” he told Newstalk ZB. “Whether it’s nuclear propulsion or nuclear armed, that’s something that we’re not up for.”
Luxon said he was “very proud of our nuclear-free position, and it ain’t changing while I’m prime minister”.
Speaking later with RNZ on Tuesday, Luxon said Penk “could have expressed himself better, but ultimately he made the right point that there won’t be any change”.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins had a similar position on both issues, but criticised Penk for suggesting New Zealand’s nuclear-free position could be changed.
“New Zealand will stay nuclear-free under Labour,” he told TVNZ on Tuesday, saying it was “absolutely outrageous” that Penk had suggested “we should allow nuclear propulsion into New Zealand waters”.
On the issue of defence spending, Hipkins said “New Zealand punches well above its weight in terms of what we contribute internationally”.
“No other country should be dictating how much New Zealand spends on its military,” he said, in reference to Hegseth’s comments.
“We should be making investments that are the right investments for New Zealand, and other countries should judge us based on the contribution that we make around the world.”