Australian officials coming to NZ to talk Aukus deal as Winston Peters, Judith Collins salute strength of Anzus

A team of Australian officials will head to New Zealand in the near future to brief them on the the non-nuclear pillar two of the Aukus defence deal, as the Government weighs up joining it.

The visit was announced by Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Males today, following the inaugural ANZMIN 2+2 meeting between the foreign and defence ministers of the two countries.

New Zealand was represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins. Foreign Minister Penny Wong joined Marles on the Australian side.

Marles said that the meeting between the defence ministers of the Aukus partners, Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, in California last year had focused on the second pillar of the deal, which looks at military technology, aside from the nuclear submarines that form pillar one of the deal.

“Since the beginning of Aukus there has been two pillars. There has been a lot of focus on pillar one, which is Australia acquiring nuclear submarine capability jointly from the United States and the United Kingdom,” Marles said.

“Pillar two, which is really focused on the development of other advanced technologies has received interest from other countries to participate in that, particularly countries from Five Eyes,” he said, hinting that Canada and New Zealand, the only two non-Aukus Five Eyes states, had expressed an interest.

He said the partners had wanted to see “runs on the board in relation to pillar two between the three countries, Australia the US and the UK” first, however he said that “in the longer term, we’re open to the idea of pillar two being open to other countries who may be interested”.

“In that context we were keen to ensure that New Zealand was abreast of where discussions had got to... in relation to pillar two, and that is the basis on which we are sending the team to brief New Zealand in the very near future,” Marles said.

Collins sounded keen to explore Aukus opportunities for the New Zealand space industry.

“The opportunities that open up to our space and technology sectors are immense,” Collins said.

The joint communique released by the partners after the meeting highlighted showed the Government has accepted the argument made by the Aukus partners that the partnership is a net positive for peace. Other nations, including China and some leaders in the Pacific, disagree and think the pact will contribute to making the world less stable.

“Ministers discussed the Aukus trilateral partnership and agreed it made a positive contribution toward maintaining peace, security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” the communique said.

The communique also highlighted the long and close history between the two nations and namechecked the Anzus defence agreement, from which New Zealand is suspended.

There is some dispute over the significance of this, with some arguing it is standard language that is used to describe the defence alliance that has persisted between Australia and New Zealand despite New Zealand’s suspension.

Former Prime Minister Sir John Key was less sure about the Anzus language, saying after an Australian Defence White Paper used Anzus to describe the relationship that it was actually “more an Anzac relationship in so much as Australia and New Zealand work together on some of these issues”.

“They [Australia] have a very different defence profile and capability obviously to New Zealand but they are well and truly aware that a long time ago we suspended Anzus and we have no intention of re-joining,” Key said.

But today’s communique said the two countries noted the “enduring nature of the Anzus Treaty, which continues to underpin the strategic relationship between the two countries, 72 years after it was signed, and formalises the commitments we have to each other as allies”.

The communique singled out China for some criticism, with ministers expressing their “grave concerns about human rights violations in Xinjiang”.

“They also expressed deep concerns about the erosion of religious, cultural, educational and linguistic rights and freedoms in Tibet and the continuing systemic erosion of Hong Kong’s autonomy, freedom, rights and democratic processes, including through the imposition of national security legislation,” the communique said.

It also voiced concern “over developments in the South China Sea”; in particular, the “intensification of destabilising activities, including the continued militarisation of disputed features, unsafe and unprofessional behaviour at sea and in the air and other dangerous actions by military, coast guard vessels and maritime militia”.

While that list is a critique of grievances against China, the list avoided singling out the country by name.

The communique only briefly touched on support for Ukraine. It said the country condemned “in the strongest terms Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine”. The communique called on China to try and press Russia to end the war.

“They noted their ongoing commitment to supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Ministers acknowledged the global impacts of the war, including on food and energy security in the Indo-Pacific region. Ministers called on all those with influence on Russia, particularly China, to exert this now to convince Russia to end its illegal war,” the communique said.

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.