{"id":473393,"date":"2026-06-12T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/473393\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T08:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T08:02:09","slug":"rimpac-deployment-highlights-new-zealands-hypocrisy-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/473393\/","title":{"rendered":"RIMPAC Deployment Highlights New Zealand\u2019s Hypocrisy Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, 12 June 2026, 7:00 pm
Press Release: Peace Movement Aotearoa<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Image
\n\/ Supplied<\/p>\n

RIMPAC 2026 deployment
\nhighlights New Zealand\u2019s hypocrisy again: Multiple
\nconflicts with NZ\u2019s stated commitment to nuclear
\ndisarmament, the rules-based order, international law, and
\nhuman rights<\/p>\n

While New Zealand politicians regularly
\ncondemn militarisation of the Pacific, here they are once
\nmore contributing to it as New Zealand armed forces join the
\nworld\u2019s largest maritime live-firing war games – Exercise
\nRim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) – in and around Hawai\u2019i from
\n24 June to 31 June. According to the military blurb, this is
\nso \u201cNew Zealand assets and personnel can test themselves
\nalongside some of the best in the world\u201d, and be part of
\n\u201ca sharing of cultures\u201d.<\/p>\n

RIMPAC 2026 comprises at
\nleast 29 warships, 5 support vessels, 5 submarines, 140
\naircraft and more than 25,000 personnel (including an
\nunknown number of \u201cland forces\u201d such as Special Forces);
\nand there are many good reasons why New Zealand should not
\nbe part of this destructive biennial invasion of
\nHawai’i.<\/p>\n

RIMPAC is a series of full-scale combat
\nassaults on land and sea: sacred sites are destroyed through
\nlive gunfire and mortar-fire, helicopter assault landings,
\ntracked and other military vehicles, and the pounding boots
\nof thousands of soldiers; coastal and reef areas are damaged
\nby high-speed amphibious assault vehicles; the marine
\nenvironment is ravaged by missiles, torpedoes and naval guns
\nwith devastating impacts on sea creatures, including marine
\nmammals and bird life; and there is contamination by fuel
\nand other hazardous leaks, as well as unexploded ordnance
\nleft behind on land and in the ocean.<\/p>\n

Advertisement – scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n

The influx of
\nlarge numbers of foreign military personnel also raises
\nserious concerns around the health and safety of women and
\ngirls in particular, with the Hawai\u2019i State Commission on
\nthe Status of Women specifically referring to RIMPAC as a
\nsignificant violence, sexual exploitation and trafficking
\nrisk in the past , and Hawaiian community groups publishing
\na RIMPAC Community Safety Toolkit .<\/p>\n

By joining RIMPAC
\nagain, New Zealand is ignoring the voices of K\u0101naka Maoli
\n(Native Hawaiians) who have opposed it for many years, and
\nis perpetuating militarised colonisation while contributing
\nto toxic pollution and destruction of the environment,
\nharming marine and other life, increasing New Zealand\u2019s
\nclimate-destroying emissions and wasting non-renewable
\nresources…in the midst of a fossil fuel
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n

According to the NZDF, \u201cThe purpose of
\nRIMPAC is to engage in mutual, large-scale military
\nexercises to foster familiarity, trust, interoperability and
\ncollective strength among Pacific nations. This means the
\nnavies of friendly nations get used to working
\ntogether.\u201d<\/p>\n

This statement is problematic on a number
\nof levels, beginning with the fact that only three Pacific
\nisland nations have armed forces (Fiji, PNG, and Tonga, plus
\nVanuatu has a paramilitary force): of the 31 countries
\ninvolved in RIMPAC 2026, only two – Fiji and Tonga – will be
\nthere so clearly trust, interoperability etc is
\noverwhelmingly not being fostered with Pacific island
\nnations.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, Pacific leaders and communities
\nhave repeatedly stated that the escalating climate emergency
\nis the single biggest security threat to the region, but New
\nZealand continues to ignore that in favour of
\never-increasing combat capability: day to day military
\nactivities, including \u201cexercises\u201d such as RIMPAC, are
\nexacerbating catastrophic climate change, with military
\nemissions estimated to be at least 5.5% of the global
\ntotal.<\/p>\n

So who exactly are the \u201cfriendly nations\u201d
\nNew Zealand is fostering familiarity, trust,
\ninteroperability and collective strength with, and how does
\nthis relate to New Zealand\u2019s stated commitment to nuclear
\ndisarmament, rules-based order, international law, and human
\nrights?<\/p>\n

As well as the many other issues around
\nRIMPAC, there’s also the matter of the 1987 NZ Nuclear Free
\nZone, Disarmament, and Arms Control Act with its prohibition
\non New Zealanders aiding and abetting those possessing or
\nhaving control of nuclear weapons: RIMPAC 2026 again
\nincludes the armed forces of five nuclear weapons states –
\nBritain, France, India, Israel and the US.<\/p>\n

We have not
\nforgotten that three of those states – Britain, France and
\nthe US – detonated more than 300 nuclear bombs in the region
\ncausing immeasurable harm to the health and wellbeing of
\nPacific peoples and extensive ongoing radioactive
\ncontamination of the environment, and here they are still
\ndestroying the Pacific with their harmful military
\nactivities – with New Zealand\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

New Zealand
\noften states its commitment to the rules-based order,
\ninternational law, and human rights, and its current
\nDisarmament Strategy – “to achieve a safer and more secure
\nworld, free from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
\ndestruction, where international humanitarian law is
\nrespected and civilians in conflict zones are protected from
\nharm” – has ‘Defending International Humanitarian Law and
\nthe Protection of Civilians’ as one of its three
\npriorities.<\/p>\n

Yet the RIMPAC participants list again
\nincludes Israel, not only a nuclear-armed state but also a
\nstate whose behaviour is clearly totally inconsistent with
\nthe rules-based order, international law, and respect for
\nhuman rights.<\/p>\n

As RIMPAC 2026 gets underway, Israel is
\nin breach – among other things – of four Provisional
\nMeasures Orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ),
\nthe highest world court and arbiter of international law, in
\nrelation to the Genocide Convention; two ICJ Advisory
\nOpinions in relation to its behaviour in Occupied
\nPalestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem; and its
\nPrime Minister is subject to an International Criminal Court
\narrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war
\ncrimes.<\/p>\n

There is an obligation on state parties to the
\nGenocide Convention, including New Zealand, to act to
\nprevent genocidal behaviour – yet Israel is one of the
\n\u201cfriendly nations\u201d New Zealand armed forces are now
\nhappily fostering familiarity, trust, interoperability and
\ncollective strength with.<\/p>\n

In addition, RIMPAC 2026
\nparticipants include Indonesia, engaged in a brutal military
\noccupation of West Papua since 1962; France, another
\nnuclear-armed state, which occupies and has military bases
\nin M\u0101\u2019ohi Nui (French Occupied Polynesia) and Kanaky (New
\nCaledonia); and other states that are engaged in a range of
\nhuman rights violations.<\/p>\n

When asked why New Zealand
\nwas part of RIMPAC 2024, the then Defence Minister and
\nAttorney General Judith Collins said that the US is
\nresponsible for the invitations (as though New Zealand has
\nno choice but to be there?), and that New Zealand is really
\nfortunate to be part of it.<\/p>\n

New Zealand\u2019s military
\ndeployment to RIMPAC this year comprises HMNZS Matataua (49
\npersonnel), HMNZS Aotearoa (approximately 101 personnel),
\nHMNZS Te Mana (approximately 178 personnel}, 3 national
\nsupport personnel and 20 staff officers, and they are
\nscheduled to arrive in Hawai\u2019i from 21 to 23 June
\n2026.<\/p>\n

If, like us, you are appalled by the startling
\nlevel of hypocrisy inherent in New Zealand\u2019s ongoing
\ninvolvement in RIMPAC, please share your views with Defence
\nMinister Chris Penk, C.Penk@ministers.govt.nz
\nForeign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, W.Peters@ministers.govt.nz
\nPrime Minister Christopher Luxon, C.Luxon@ministers.govt.nz
\nand your local MP – all MPs contact details are available at
\nhttps:\/\/www3.parliament.nz\/en\/mps-and-electorates\/members-of-parliament\/<\/p>\n

References<\/p>\n

\u2022
\nNZDF RIMPAC page, https:\/\/www.nzdf.mil.nz\/navy\/what-we-do\/combat-ready\/the-largest-maritime-exercise\/<\/p>\n

\u2022
\n‘Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women launches
\nanti-trafficking campaign’, 10 July 2018, https:\/\/humanservices.hawaii.gov\/hawaii-state-commission-on-the-status-of-women-launches-anti-trafficking-campaign
\u2022
\nCommunity Safety Toolkit During RIMPAC, https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1458ZP4B2ma7b1buU5Mp49Rd_l4YrgieQ\/view<\/p>\n

\u2022
\nNew Zealand Disarmament and Arms Control Strategy 2024-2026,
\nhttps:\/\/www.mfat.govt.nz\/assets\/Peace-Rights-and-Security\/Disarmament\/New-Zealand-Disarmament-and-Arms-Control-Strategy-2024-2026.pdf<\/p>\n

\u2022
\nRIMPAC 2026 participants, https:\/\/www.cpf.navy.mil\/About-Us\/Exercises-Missions\/RIMPAC\/Participants\/<\/p>\n

Some
\nof our comments on RIMPAC over the years<\/p>\n

See, for
\nexample \u2022 Reality of RIMPAC compilation (2014), https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/notes\/366680997862361
\n\u2022 RIMPAC 2018, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeaceMovementAotearoa\/posts\/1752211271492901
\n\u2022 RIMPAC 2020, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeaceMovementAotearoa\/posts\/3236039016443445\u00a0
\u2022
\nTime to #EndRIMPAC (2022), https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeaceMovementAotearoa\/posts\/5145936915453636
\nand 2022 RIMPAC reality video, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeaceMovementAotearoa\/posts\/607178594443373
\n\u2022 RIMPAC 2024, https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/PeaceMovementAotearoa\/posts\/888443889979411<\/p>\n

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