He claimed that in talks, Iran would agree to have no nuclear weapons, only to deny to the press they had ever discussed it.
“There’s something wrong with them. They’re cuckoo.”
Defence Minister Chris Penk is attending the Turkey summit as a Nato partner, known as the Indo-Pacific 4, along with Japan, South Korea and Australia. The IP4 is sometimes regarded as an informal branch of Nato, although Japan floated the idea of setting up a Nato office in Tokyo as recently as 2023.
Bula to a new defence alliance
A major new formal defence development has been unveiled in our region, and it’s all about China.
In the same week (in fact, the same day) that China launched a test missile into the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka unveiled a new mutual defence alliance, the Ocean of Peace Alliance, part of the Vuvale Union. It is open to others to join.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has indicated New Zealand could well join the alliance and Labour leader Christopher Hipkins has also reacted positively to it.
The alliance’s Article 6 closely resembles Nato’s Article 5, which says an attack on one is an attack on all and each will take action it deems necessary.
Article 6 of the Ocean alliance says: “Each party recognises that an armed attack on any of the parties within the Pacific would be dangerous to each other’s peace and security as well as the security of the Pacific and declares that it would act to meet the common danger, in accordance with its domestic processes.”
The treaty marks a major milestone in a diplomatic security drive by Albanese in his second term to contain China’s military ambitions for a Pacific presence. It follows the PukPuk mutual defence treaty with Papua New Guinea. He has also been discussing a defence treaty in the Solomon Islands this week. And two weeks ago he signed a security and economic pact with Vanuatu, which pledges to prohibit any foreign power from setting up a military base in its territory.
All of this puts the defence and security declaration that Winston Peters signed with the Cook Islands in April into a broader perspective. Peters is in Tokyo at present and tomorrow will meet his counterpart, Toshimitsu Motegi, who has been at the Nato summit in Turkey.
Pacific nations have closed ranks and reacted strongly against China’s missile test – and most island states have included a rider against any future missile test by any nuclear power, including the United States.
Confronting the nuclear ‘bogeyman’
New US ambassador Jared Novelly wouldn’t be the first US ambassador who thinks he can joke or charm the country out of its anti-nuclear laws. His brainwave is to get New Zealand to invite a US aircraft carrier into the Waitematā Harbour and let the Tall Blacks cement relations with a basketball game on the deck with the crew – or perhaps his own Illawarra Hawks team based in New South Wales.
“You need to see these things and realise it’s not some sort of bogeyman that you have to worry about,” he told reporters at an introductory press conference at his residence.
Of course, the US would not just show up, he said. “It requires an invite from New Zealand.”
Not quite, ambassador. It would require a law change. Last time I checked with Google, there’s not a single US aircraft carrier that is not nuclear-propelled. But thanks for throwing a great 250th party last week. Read all about it in Jamie Ensor’s report.
Big cheese rolls into town
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Photo / Atul Loke, The New York Times
The visit by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, tomorrow night is the most significant to New Zealand by a foreign leader in a very long time. There was a time when it was not unusual for New Zealand to receive global figures, usually attached to their visits to Australia. But New Zealand’s dance card has become relatively bare in the past 10 years.
For example, this year Australia has hosted Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, neither of whom made the trip across the Tasman.
The high point in recent years was probably 2014, when New Zealand hosted (at different times) Japan’s then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Germany’s Angela Merkel and China’s Xi Jinping.
Michael Laws v women
The announcement that Michael Laws, broadcaster, Otago Regional Councillor and former National and New Zealand First MP, will be standing again for New Zealand First this election unleashed a backlash among commentators, with particular reference to his age and gender.
The two strongest reactions were from Newstalk ZB’s Heather du Plessis-Allan, who said in the Herald on Sunday it was “desperate” to be resurrecting a politician from last century, and Andrea Vance in a withering piece in the Sunday Star-Times, where she dubbed Winston Peters’ candidates “a toxic manosphere” and “an algorithmic collection of outrage merchants, culture-war hobbyists, and men convinced Western society is on the brink of collapse, and they’re only one homemade podcast away from saving it”.
Other retreads include ex-Labour minister Stuart Nash and ex-National minister Alfred Ngaro.
This week Laws hit back at critics during a show on The Platform, where he is an internet broadcaster. He suggested they were in perpetual menopause for commentary he could only ascribe to “an antipodean equivalent of Trump derangement syndrome”, and being liberal luvvies of inner-city Auckland and Wellington who despise anyone who doesn’t live like them.
At the risk of annoying the sisterhood, I would say New Zealand First could do a lot worse than getting Laws back into Parliament. Having observed his work closely last century, he was a formidable political operator. Yes, he can be offensive in the way he expresses his views, but he is a thinker and is more than willing to engage with people he disagrees with, usually in a civil manner. By the way, he wrote one of the most amusing political memoirs ever produced in New Zealand, The Demon Profession.
By the way
Policies galore: There has been a steady release of policies this week, including yesterday’s by Act to expand the Three Strikes law to include three counts of burglary; New Zealand First’s promise to limit voting in New Zealand to citizens only, not residents; Labour’s scheme to incentivise the installation of solar power; and the Greens’ Drink, Swim, Fish policy for cleaner water.His poor wife: Much fuss has been made globally about the blunder of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in answering a crude question on a supposedly light-hearted local podcast about which Aussie actress he would like to “date, shag or marry” (Kylie Minogue, he said after being pressed for an answer). But the far worse decision he made was in answering the host’s next question about whether he and recently wed wife Jodie Haydon were still “bonking like rabbits”, at which point he lost all judgment to reveal what they do after the Rabbitohs win a game. Never has there been such inappropriate over-sharing by a Prime Minister since Sir John Key told Radio Hauraki that he peed in the shower.
Quote unquote
“It won’t be for changing under my leadership at all” – Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on New Zealand laws banning nuclear-armed or -propelled vessels.
Micro quiz
The Reserve Bank raised the official cash rate to 2.5% yesterday, but by how many basis points? (Answer at the bottom of this article.)
Brickbat
Goes to new US ambassador Jared Novelly. Dreaming big but with little reference to reality (see “bogeyman” above).
Bouquet
Goes to Reserve Bank Governor Anna Breman for the clear, crisp, no-fuss way she conducts her press conferences.
This week’s top stories
Burglary policy: Act to campaign on new three strikes regime for burglary
MP profile: ‘Not scared of Māori’ – meet the Labour MP emerging as a key voice in Parliament
VPN confusion: Stanford claims VPN ban never considered, NZ First cites proposal’s ‘ambiguity’
China missile test: US says Beijing’s nuke build-up of ‘great concern’
Nuclear wish-list: US Ambassador wants warships in NZ waters, jokes about using time machine to ‘fix nuclear thing’
India-NZ FTA: India ‘very happy’ with FTA progression despite Peters’ claims – PM
Solar policy: ‘It’s currently illegal’ – solar policy hits snag over banned tech
Water policy: Greens release drinking water, oceans and rivers policy
Voting policy: Peters outlines NZ First plan to make voting citizens-only
Family harm policy: ‘Victims should never have to choose’ – Act targets pet abuse in family harm
Trade policy: National pledges new trade deals with seven economies if re-elected
Laws candidacy: New NZ First candidate wants broadcasting portfolio to scrap RNZ
Electioneering: Are National, Labour MPs acting like they’re on podcasts in these videos?
Power transfer: How Luxon quietly empowered Mitchell – and delegated national security responsibilities
Security guard policy: Detain, search, use force – Act’s big security guard overhaul
Quiz answer: 25 basis points
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