The government is being urged to reconsider joining the AUKUS alliance without undertaking wider public consultation.
Advocacy group Te Kuaka is calling for Defence Minister Andrew Little and Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta to consider a proper public debate before committing to the alliance between Australia, the UK and the USA that is centred on the supply of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia by the UK.
It was largely established as a containment strategy against China increasing its influence in the Pacific, especially after a diplomatic fallout between China and Australia.
Dr Arama Rata of Te Kuaka, a group that advocates for a progressive role for Aotearoa in the world, says that is one of the reasons Aotearoa needs to be cautious of joining.
"It's not so much a security agreement to protect ourselves, so we think that it is really important if we're going to make any kind of change like that, to have a broad public discussion, particularly as it goes against some of our really important declarations that we've signed onto with our Pacific partners."
Rata cites the Boe and Biketawa declarations that seek to achieve peaceful resolutions to issues in the Pacific and puts climate change and human rights at the forefront, something she says isn't evident in the AUKUS deal.
"Joining this kind of aggressive pact that's really about US strategic priorities would be too big of a shift for our government to do. It doesn't have the mandate to make that kind of change without board-based public discussion first."
Be neutral
Little has been said by British media suggesting New Zealand is considering joining Pillar II of the alliance, which doesn't involve the nuclear component of the partnership. Te Kuaka is calling for Little to clarify his comments, particularly "foreign and local voices against the deal would not be a factor in potential membership."
Rata said it was remarkable for a political leader "to suggest public opinion could be dismissed in this way when considering the stance New Zealand takes in the world".
Te Kuaka is also calling for "greater public consideration" of New Zealand's relationship with NATO, an alliance that allows for the use of nuclear weapons under certain circumstances.
"We should follow the advice of Debbie Ngarewa-Packer and Rawiri Waititi who have called for neutrality. We should take a position where we're able to get along with our neighbours. We are not part of the UK, we're not part of the US, we're in the Pacific. This is where our future is.
"In the case of both AUKUS Pillar II and NATO, the government risks sleepwalking into military arrangements that seriously jeopardise its purported commitment to independent foreign policy.”
Asked about potentially joining AUKUS, made up of three of the five countries involved in the Five Eyes security programme that New Zealand is also party to, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Aotearoa would continue to work closely with its partners on security and military matters.
"But New Zealand has been proudly a nuclear-free country, and we are going to stay that way. So that means the fundamental cornerstone of AUKUS, the nuclear submarines, are not something New Zealand is going to be involved with."
