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

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”.