National MP ‘likes’ social media comment criticising Budget defence spending

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

National MP Nancy Lu has liked a social media comment criticising the Budget’s defence spending.

A National MP claims her “liking” a social media comment criticising the money her Government has budgeted for defence spend was an acknowledgement, not an endorsement, of its contents.

The Budget last week committed about $1.6 billion, for new military drones and essential repairs to the navy’s Anzac-class frigates and multi-role vessel HMNZS Canterbury until they are replaced, to surge defence spending towards 2% of GDP within eight years.

The comment, under a video posted by Nancy Lu on Chinese-language social media platform WeChat summarising the Budget’s contents last Thursday, was critical of defence spending: “[I] don't support increasing defence spending. Only better relationships with China guarantee our country's safety!”

Lu liked that comment and another one by the same user that read: “It's best that New Zealand don’t dispatch warplanes to surveil China and send warships to threaten China at the South China Sea. Friendly relations with China means a safer country!”

She also liked other comments praising the Budget.

National MP Nancy Lu liked a comment that read: “[I] don't support increasing defence spending. Only better relationships with China guarantee our country's safety!”

Lu, a list MP, said her liking social media comments did not necessarily mean she endorsed it. “I sometimes ‘like’ or respond to comments on my social media pages, to acknowledge that the person commenting has taken time out of their day to share their thoughts with me.”

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis have been approached for comment.

Willis warned MPs in her Budget speech last week that New Zealand was facing the most dangerous geo-strategic environment in eight decades. “While we cannot control the actions of other countries, we can ensure we have the capability to defend and advance New Zealand’s interests,” she told Parliament.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said on Saturday, during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, New Zealand was still “free loading”, even if the country lifted defence spending to 2% of GDP.

Stuff reported in 2024 of Lu’s ties with Jian Yang, a former National MP and alleged Chinese spy who retired from politics in 2020.

Yang, who studied and taught English at a school run by the People’s Liberation Army before moving to New Zealand, said in a 2020 interview he hand-picked Lu to be his successor, saying he had “trained” her to stand for the party “for a long time” and kept it secret from his colleagues.

Her father, current affairs commentator Peter Lu, said in 2020 it was “necessary” for China to introduce a national security law in Hong Kong, which has since been used to jail the city’s pro-democracy opposition lawmakers and activists.

Nancy Lu said at the time she could not control who offered an endorsement and would “leave it to others to comment on their statements”.

“Like any parent, my father has been influential in my life, but I am able to hold my own views,” she said.