Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

New Zealand and Australia: Defence Partners Making a Difference in our Region & Globally

By Kate Lackey - posted Thursday, 30 September 2004


New Zealand’s most important relationship is with Australia. It is our closest neighbour and our most important economic and defence partner. We have similar histories, culture, institutions and values. We share personal links through business, tourism, migration, sport and family contacts, which in turn underpin the close and warm government links. Over 800,000 Aussies visited New Zealand last year.

Our Prime Ministers meet each year, as do our Defence and Trade Ministers: Our two Foreign Ministers get together six monthly, and New Zealand Cabinet Ministers take part in the regular ministerial council meetings held between the State and Federal governments across a wide range of portfolios.

Last year we celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Closer Economic Relations (CER) agreement between Australia and New Zealand. It dramatically boosted trade and it underpins the growing economic inter-dependence between our two countries. Of greater significance, perhaps, was the pressure it bought to bear in making our two economies less protectionist and more competitive. Initially this meant competition between each other, but it has led the way to the wider international competiveness that has allowed Australia and New Zealand to compete so successfully in global markets.

Advertisement

Right now our two economies are performing strongly in the global context. We have both experienced good levels of growth while others have stumbled. Australia’s success matters to us as it is the largest market for our goods. A dynamic and prosperous New Zealand economy also matters to Australia, as we’re its fifth largest market.

Having seen trade across the Tasman grow by nearly 10 per cent a year over the past 10 years, the Australian and New Zealand governments are currently exploring the scope for developing a Single Economic Market between us. A growing number of companies now have a presence in both countries, and we want to remove as far as we can the remaining barriers and extra costs of doing business together.

The goal is to create a seamless trans-Tasman business market. We think that a combined market of 24 million people is good for business. And by closer collaboration we can more effectively build critical mass and compete better in the international market place.

Also we had a very close defence relationship over the four decades post WW II - both bilaterally and with the United States under the ANZUS Treaty. This was the case until the 1980s, when New Zealand passed its non-nuclear legislation. In response the United States put a hold on defence co-operation with New Zealand.

Because New Zealand no longer formerly participated in the alliance, differences on the defence front between New Zealand and Australia became apparent. Despite those differences, or perhaps because of them, our two governments embarked on a series of discussions in the early 1990s resulting in Closer Defence Relations (CDR). CDR is not a formal treaty, but a broad arrangement that brings together a number of other agreements and arrangements covering areas such as policy, intelligence and security, joint exercises and training, logistics and science and technology.

The focus of CDR is on maximising the ability of Australian and New Zealand forces to operate together. This has placed emphasis on intelligence sharing, swapping notes on equipment purchases and a significant range of joint activities and exercises. At their annual meeting last month, our two Defence Ministers reaffirmed the importance of the alliance relationship under CDR and our inter-operability.

Advertisement

So the defence relationship is in good shape. With regard suggestions that New Zealand is not pulling its weight on the defence front I would point out the following: New Zealand has a fully funded long-term development plan that provides for $3 billion to be invested in defence capability over the next 10 years. That’s not bad for an economy the size of Queensland’s. New Zealand is not only very active, together with Australia, in our own region but we are also punching above our weight in the war against terrorism.

The Pacific region has suffered increasingly from political conflict and instability. Population pressures, land disputes, ethnic tensions, failing economies, corruption and loss of the rule of law are common factors in Melanesia. The Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Vanuatu have all been affected by instability. Nauru is just about bankrupt.

These problems, of course, have a direct impact on the well being of the people of these countries, and also on stability and prosperity in the region. We have a commitment to work to help resolve these problems. It’s in our interests not to see conditions created which spawn international crime and which could also provide cover for terrorist organisations.

In the Solomon Islands, New Zealand Police and our Defence Force have worked as part of the Regional Assistance Mission under Australian leadership to bring hope back into the lives of the Solomon Islanders. The important thing about the intervention in the Solomons is that it was undertaken at the request of the Solomons Government and was backed by the other countries in the region. While tremendous progress has been made during the first year in disarming the bad guys and re-establishing the rule of law, we all know that it’s going to be a long haul restoring the economy and rebuilding the institutions of government.

Also in the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand worked together in Bougainville, bringing peace there after 10 years of bloody civil war. And while East Timor is not part of the South Pacific we were the first peacekeeping force to support Australia and our three-year commitment was valued highly by the Australian Government, as well as by the East Timorese.

To help tackle some of the problems confronting the small Pacific nations, New Zealand and Australia, together with their Pacific partners, have agreed on a bold new plan to promote economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security in the region. The plan will strengthen the Pacific Forum, under which heads of government, including the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, meet annually, and lead to much deeper co-operation in the region.

Work is underway on transport issues: How many airlines, for example, can the Pacific countries really sustain? The short answer is fewer than exist currently. Other possibilities for sharing include a regional panel of judges, a regional financial intelligence unit, and joint training courses for managers and parliamentarians.

Moving further out, Asia remains of great importance to New Zealand, as it does for Australia. We’re both working hard on closer engagement with Asia, especially our major trading partners in that region. Like Australia, we’ve put a lot of effort into our links with ASEAN, and for the first time Prime Minister Howard and Prime Minister Clark have been invited to attend a Summit meeting with ASEAN leaders later this year. In Southeast Asia, New Zealand’s participation, together with Australia, in the Five Power Defence Arrangements is a practical demonstration of our commitment to the peace and stability of the region.

Of all potential security threats to New Zealand - and to Australia and many other countries - terrorism is now the biggest concern. The perpetrators of the  September 11 attacks on the US achieved a new and horrible benchmark in terrorism. The Bali bombings in October 2002 bought terrorism to our doorstep. New Zealand’s commitment to the war against terrorism has been staunch, and we will continue to play a full part.

In Afghanistan, we had our SAS there for 12 months from late 2001 and have recently redeployed 60 SAS for another 6 months. We had two frigates deployed in the Maritime Interdiction Operation in the Gulf in 2002 and have sent another frigate back in. We’ve also had our P3 Orion aircraft patrolling in the Gulf region in support of anti terrorist efforts.

In addition, we’ve commanded a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan since last September and will be keeping it there until September 2005 - a two-year commitment. Our Provincial Reconstruction Team is based in Bamian province, 200 kilometres north of Kabul, at an altitude of 8,500 feet, close to where the great Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. The team is helping with reconstruction efforts and providing a more secure environment in which the people of the province can look to rebuilding their lives.

In Iraq an engineering detachment of over 60 New Zealand defence force personnel, working on reconstruction and humanitarian tasks will complete 12 months deployment later this year. We’re looking at other ways we can provide assistance to help Iraq over the sad legacy of its past.

The new security threats which have emerged since the end of the Cold War extend beyond violent acts of terrorism There are other trans-national issues such as drugs, arms trafficking, money-laundering, and people smuggling, which are part of a worrying picture of international criminal activity, as well as in many cases being directly linked to terrorists.

New Zealand is not alone in taking the view that actions to destroy terrorist organisations must be accompanied by measures to tackle the issues, which help terrorist recruitment. Injustice, poverty, and the lack of opportunity can all give rise to the hopelessness and desperation that feeds the terrorists cause.

With 4 million people we have about one fifth of Australia’s population. We don’t have unlimited resources at our disposal and we have to make realistic judgements about what we can achieve and what it will cost. Our smallness also helps explain the importance we attach to relationship building. It makes sense for us to work with other countries, most notably Australia, on issues, which are important to us.

We’re also isolated - our nearest neighbour, Australia, is over three hours flying time away. We’ve been described, a little unkindly I think, as the last bus stop on the planet. And like Australia, we’re a relatively young country in the modern sense of the word. That helps explain why we’re prepared to take new and fresh approaches to issues.

So as a small nation we have a strong vested interest in the rule of international law. On the world stage New Zealand’s influence is limited by its size. We do not have the political, economic or military strength to pressure others to comply with our interests. We can and do seek to persuade and influence through an active diplomatic effort.

We have a strong belief in multilateralism, which allows small countries like New Zealand to have a say in regional and world affairs. We are committed to disarmament - meaning the elimination of weapons of mass destruction. The threat of global nuclear war has diminished but the threat of weapons of mass destruction and local nuclear conflict has increased. Like Australia, we see a real need to make progress on disarmament and arms control regimes to ensure that weapons of mass destruction do not fall into the hands of terrorists.

I hope I’ve been able to give you a sense of the close and enduring partnership between Australia and New Zealand, and our joint efforts on the defence and security fronts. While we do have some differences, they are vastly outweighed by the many things we have in common. One thing that New Zealanders most certainly do share with Australians is irreverence for authority.

 In that context, I want to tell you of the occasion when a senior British officer visited the New Zealand Division in the Western Desert during the World War II. He commented critically to the New Zealand Commander, General Freyberg, about the slackness of the NZ soldiers in saluting their superiors. “Ah yes” said Freyberg, “but they’re very friendly and if you wave to them they usually wave back”.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. All

Edited transcript of the speech given to Women in International Security, Australia (Research Institute for Asia and the Pacific, University of Sydney) on  August 25, 2004.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Her Excellency Kate Lackey is the High Commissioner to New Zealand. She is New Zealand's most senior woman diplomat, Kate Lackey, took up the position of High Commissioner to Australia in September 2002, the first woman to hold the post.

Article Tools
Comment Comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy