New Zealand isn't part of Aukus, so why is it excited about it?

In September 2021, when Australia, the UK and the US announced the Aukus trilateral defence pact, then New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern had said, “We weren’t approached, nor would I expect us to be.”

Incidentally, the same day the New Zealand government under the Official Information Act revealed that the country was considering its possible role in the defence agreement. Now, three years later, incumbent New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has released a joint statement with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese hailing the security treaty.

Luxon and Albanese said on Friday that the Aukus trilateral defence pact would boost regional security and stability. They also underscored that the two countries were facing the most challenging strategic environment since World War II.

It is interesting to see New Zealand, which is not a party to the defence pact between the United States, Australia and the UK, taking so much interest in it only three years after its prime minister showing scant inclination towards the agreement.

“We share very much common values and we share common objectives, and it is not surprising we will look at any opportunity for including New Zealand in pillar two,” Albanese said in a media briefing with Luxon.

Scratching the surface

If one digs a little deeper, it seems that New Zealand was possibly always interested in the Aukus deal. What prevented it from becoming a part of it or joining the discussion in the initial stage was its nuclear weapon prohibition policy.

When the Aukus was announced its main focus was supplying nuclear submarines to Australia as the Pacific security situation was changing fast. China-Australia relations were nosediving particularly after Canberra sought probe into the origin of Covid-19, a global demand that Beijing vehemently resisted any inspection of possible sites by an international team of experts or scientists. Their economic and trade ties had taken a major hit, with the two countries blaming one another. Australia, in response to China’s growing assertiveness, reworked its security policies, committing to defence spending.

When surroundings were heating up over security concerns, New Zealand could hardly have kept its eyes closed to the possibility of joining major Western powers to leverage its position. The Aukus treaty itself provided a window that New Zealand was looking to explore — “pillar two”.

What’s “pillar two”?

The first pillar of the Aukus agreement means the provision to supply nuclear-powered submarines to Australia. The “pillar two” is a separate provision that allows the delivery of non-nuclear technology and facilities.

This came up in the reckoning in March 2023 — two years after the Aukus deal was announced. Months later, in October 2023, New Zealand warmed up to the idea of joining or at least keeping the possibility open for a wider Aukus pact. The “pillar two”, in a way, is a standalone technology-sharing arrangement that has been carefully crafted to ensure non-nuclear military arrangements.

In October 2023, the New Zealand government advised its ministers on the Aukus deal saying “there are likely to be significant opportunities [for] future cooperation…beyond the submarines, particularly in the cyber and artificial intelligence areas”.

What now?

Reacting to New Zealan’s stand, the US has said the door was open for New Zealand to engage on Aukus. These developments have followed a statement by the US state department saying that the Aukus members now had comparable export-control regimes — a significant step needed to facilitate technology sharing on Aukus, Reuters reported.

New Zealand says that it is happy with formal security ties with Australia and ready to collaborate with the Aukus within the defence framework of its immediate neighbour. Luxon said, “Our intention is to say we want to be fully interoperable with Australia’s defence forces."

Australia and New Zealand signed a deal last year to help improve the capability and readiness of military personnel. This came against the backdrop of Australia’s growing involvement in the larger security affairs of the Pacific, more specifically the South China Sea in alignment with the West to counter Chinese attempts to claim the entire sea, which is an international water body.

Australia is already a partner in the Quad — security dialogue grouping that also has the US, India and Japan as members. The Quad is scheduled for a joint military exercise in the South China Sea later this year.

With Australia’s greater geo-strategic engagement, New Zealand stands to gain immensely through its own arrangement with bodies like Aukus particularly in dealing with cyber intrusions and accessing advanced security technology. It also strengthens its position with such moves to meet challenges, if arise, to its territorial integrity.