Defence minister vying for sit-down with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth in Singapore
Friday, 29 May 2026
SINGAPORE: Defence Minister Chris Penk is vying for a sit-down with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth at a defence summit in Singapore.
The Shangri-La Dialogue coincides with a significant uplift in New Zealand’s defence spending - $2.3 billion capital and $1.2 billion operating funding in Budget 2026.
The Iran war, great power rivalries and pressure on international rules will dominate the discourse among defence ministers, military heads and industry leaders in the coming days.
It’s a critical time for face-to-face talks. Penk said it would be “great” to meet Hegseth, though he’s understandably cautious about the chances of a sit-down.
“Our people have been in touch so we’ll see what happens,” he told The Post.
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Hegseth - one of the biggest players at the summit - will take centre stage on Saturday morning, giving a speech in a session titled, the “United States’ Strategy for Peace in the Indo-Pacific”.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun is sending a delegation to the summit as his leader Xi Jinping conducts a sweeping purge of China’s military wing, including harsh corruption sentences for Dong’s predecessors.
Small and middle powers are increasingly working together as great powers apply pressure to the rules-based order.
Penk - who’s been briefed about regional issues and those specific to Shangri-La attendees - said working closer with others was critical for small nations like New Zealand.
“Groupings are important, especially for a relatively small nation with a relatively small defence force.
“Obviously, we're investing in it to make it more capable and better resourced to meet the needs and the challenges of the day, but in international terms we're still going to remain small, even relative to Australia, let alone larger powers.
“So while we will maintain an independent foreign policy, to be able to demonstrate interoperability, even interchangeability, when it comes to particular assets and our people, those are important elements of avoiding isolation.”
The summit was a chance for Penk to make sure New Zealand’s heightened focus on national and regional security was well understood by others, he said.
“I understand from Judith [Collins], as my predecessor, that that point is increasingly well understood but we shouldn't be complacent about that.”
New Zealand’s recent uplift in defence spending would help in conversations about security, he said.
“This is my first [Shangri-La Dialogue] so I've got no baseline comparison but I think it's really very fair to say that over the years there have been harder conversations for New Zealand defence ministers than I will have, on the basis that we are being recognised for starting to play a part that we frankly weren't playing fully until quite recently.”
Penk had locked in sit-downs with Australia and Japan at the time of writing - though the summit is a moving feast of closed-door talks so it’s likely he will speak with others too.
He’ll also have a chance to - as he puts it - “advertise New Zealand’s intentions” in a panel session with the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn and President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta.
As a new minister he wanted to provide “continuity” in the defence portfolio, he said.
“We are staying the course, having talked about our intentions to double defence spending to 2% of GDP, we're on that trajectory from the Defence Capital Plan 2025 until now.”
Penk is in Singapore with Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Tony Davies, Secretary of Defence Brook Barrington and a small delegation of officials.
Anneke Smith’s travel to the Shangri-La Dialogue has been made possible by support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.