Aukus marks third birthday, New Zealand continues to deliberate involvement

Australian Collins-class submarines will be replaced by nuclear-powered subs with technology provided by the US under Aukus. Photo / Australian Defence Force

The Aukus partners, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia celebrated the deal’s third birthday this week with a joint statement today.

The statement by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the alliance was on track to deliver on its main aim of delivering nuclear-powered, but conventionally armed, submarines to Australia, but it was a mention of New Zealand in the statement that got politicians talking today.

The statement name-checked four countries, Japan, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand, for possible cooperation on Aukus pillar 2 projects. Japan clearly had the most developed relationship with the bloc, but the three leaders noted that Canada, New Zealand and South Korea were being “consulted” to “identify possibilities for collaboration on advanced capabilities under Aukus Pillar II”.

These would be non-nuclear projects that sit alongside or separate to the main Aukus agreement.

The question of whether New Zealand would sign up to Aukus Pillar 2 projects has hung over New Zealand foreign policy for years.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said today’s statement did not change the position held by New Zealand Government’s since the deal was announced, which is that it is exploring Pillar 2 opportunities.

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

“We’ve got 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’s Foreign Affairs spokesman David Parker said New Zealand had opportunities to invest in its military outside Aukus.

“I would make the point that whenever it comes to big expensive kit for the military you ... it’s Labour Governments that do it,” Parker said, citing the frigates bought in the 1980s, and the investment the last Labour Government did in the new Hercules and Poseidon aircraft.

He said New Zealand needed to ask if Aukus was in its interests and noted that even in Australia there was a discussion over whether it was in Australia’s interest.

Parker said not participating in Aukus would not mean sacrificing military interoperability with Australia. He said New Zealand would still likely be able to access hardware that was interoperable with Aukus-armed Australia.

Otago University Professor Robert Patman told the Herald Aukus “hasn’t 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 the cosier non-nuclear alternative.

“There has been a worrying trend to compartmentalise Pillar 1, which we couldn’t be part of, and Pillar 2,” Patman said.

“Pillar 2 and Pillar 1 serve the same strategic objective to deter China,” he said.

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

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