Aukus celebrates third anniversary, New Zealand continues to mull involvement

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said today’s statement did not change the New Zealand government’s position since the deal was announced, namely that it is exploring Pillar 2 options.

“There is no change from what we talked about, which is that we are investigating Aukus Pillar 2,” he said.

“We still have a long way to go,” he said.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters said the deal was “a work in progress” and the government would wait until it had something to say before making an announcement. New Zealand has not yet been formally invited to join.

Labour foreign affairs spokesman David Parker said New Zealand had opportunities to invest in its military outside Aukus.

“I would stress that when it comes to big, expensive equipment for the military, it’s the Labor governments that do it,” Parker said, referring to the frigates bought in the 1980s and the investment the last Labor government made in the new Hercules and Poseidon aircraft.

He said New Zealand had to ask itself whether Aukus was in its best interests and noted that even in Australia there was a debate about whether it was in Australia’s best interests.

Parker said opting out of Aukus would not mean sacrificing military interoperability with Australia. He said New Zealand would likely still have access to hardware that was interoperable with Aukus-armed Australia.

Professor Robert Patman from the University of Otago told the Herald Aukus has “not delivered much” for anyone, including the Aukus partners.

He said the debate over Pillar 2 could not be separated from Pillar 1, despite attempts to present it as a cosier, non-nuclear alternative.

“There is a worrying trend of compartmentalizing Pillar 1, which we could not be part of, and Pillar 2,” Patman said.

“Pillar 2 and Pillar 1 serve the same strategic goal: deterring China,” he said.

Patman was also skeptical of attempts to brand Aukus as “not an alliance.” While this was technically correct, he noted that it was “an enhanced security relationship with allies.”

Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor, writing about politics from within Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and in the press gallery since 2018.