War with China? Or cocktails with the Colonels? I haven’t got the invitations, but I’m a no for both.
Speaking to Radio New Zealand about the prospect of New Zealand joining the AUKUS nuclear submarine-related deal, Defence Minister Judith Collins said:
While the US has been positive, New Zealand also needed to work out what it would bring to the alliance. “That is very important. You’ve got to bring your food to the party, don’t you? And that’s what we are working through.”
She believed New Zealand could offer work it had done in the area of technological advancement, especially in the space sector. “The issue is, is that what is wanted and also what is that cost … It’s just a very vague area at the moment while things are still getting worked through.”
I’m glad she mentioned the cost. The AUKUS deal was an Australian initiative, gratefully accepted by the US and UK, as the cost was to be borne by Australia. And the cost is eye-watering, some A$368billion at initial assessment. Experience tells us there is only one track for such costs, and that is eternal rise.
What is not mentioned is the purpose of AUKUS. It is clearly aimed at China, and its intent is aggressive. Nuclear-propelled submarines patrolling off the coast of China are offensive weapons, as are the long-range US bombers now permanently based in Australia’s Northern Territory. The latest news is that Australia is also going to be an independent logistics base for the US, another sign of war preparation.
Our comprador elites in MFAT, Defence and some of our university and other think tanks are clearly pushing for New Zealand to side with the United States in its competition with China. Talk of security is a synonym for war preparation; the consequences of such war are studiously avoided. They would be horrific – scenes of the sort we are currently seeing day-by-day in Gaza and Ukraine, both of which are not going well for US proxy combatants, but which are inflicting immense suffering on innocent civilians, men, women, and children.
At the moment our official offensive contribution to both wars is in the back room, safely far away from the action, providing targeting data to the combatants. In a wider war the tables would be turned, and it would not just be the Defence personnel who would be the targets.
That is why we should all have a say in whether or not we want to come to Judith’s party. I’m definitely a no to AUKUS.
As for Judith’s talk about freeloading, that is the sort of barb that is felt most keenly by the Colonels and the politicians in the cocktail parties and the private meetings. There are times when it is much wiser to stay away from the party. We don’t have to be joined at the hip with the Australians; Helen Clark did not follow John Howard in the ‘coalition of the willing,’ an unnecessary war causing immense innocent suffering, based on a lie.
As so often is the case, it is the cartoonists who most clearly expose the truth.
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