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6:00 am, May 31st, 2026 - 31 comments
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Open mike is your post.
For announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose.
The usual rules of good behaviour apply (see the Policy).
Step up to the mike …
I'm wondering why comments regarding Peter Hegsheth's claim that NZ was freeloading were closed so early.
Me too.
So, I will add my pennyworth here.
Hegseth is an amateur who booted out the professionals in the US Defence Force because he thinks he knows better than them. A classic case of Dunning Kruger syndrome:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Whatever ‘freeloading’ may have existed is because the US fancied itself as the western world’s chief regulator of matters pertaining to foreign affairs, and chose to be involved with other western counties. Who is going to ‘look a gift-horse in the mouth’ when it’s on offer?
Likewise. Others spend a lot more time here than I do but I don't recall when I've last/ever seen comments closed.
As for Hegseth he is just one of the many incompetent and dangerous cabinet Trump has surrounded himself with. Totally unsuited for the role but perfect for the Orange One.
And as for NZ being under the protective umbrella of the failed state of the USA, when has that truly been the case?
American exceptionalism has previously trumpeted the USA as the defender of Western democracy when the only thing it is has really been defending since WW2 is its own interests.
My best bet would be that these obsessive and vexatious litigants have a track record for shutting down criticism. Just look at the ridiculous way Senator Mark Kelly was targeted for stating the law regarding unlawful orders!
Well, it can't be because of alwyn's "I think… I don't think" comment @5.1
Ah yes, those "few years in the early 1990's" when NZ was "living under the US umbrella" – I remember them well. Do yooou?
Why don't you quote my views accurately? I said that the only time we actually lived in Helen Clark's "incredibly benign strategic environment" was in the early 90's. The rest of the time since the second world war we have been under the US umbrella and things looked great because of that.
Why don't tell us what you think in your own words? Have you handed over your judgement and your voice to AI? Do you think the routine visits of US Military leaders to Wellington for talks haven't really happened
Sorry for the cut and paste – you could try writing you views more accurately.
Is that a question? Such fun.
I think the topic was superseded by this.
Penk attempting to cuddle up to Hegseth by suggesting an end to our nuclear free policy.
Strategy
Because of this nuclear policy we are not an ally of the USA, thus have no need to spend 3.5% of GDP to be worthy of their protection – they are not providing any such guarantee now.
The slighting of a Five Eyes partner show how inept Hegseth is. He knows about NATO+ (the USA has bases in Japan and South Korea, but not here). He probably has not heard of the Five Powers FFDA.
Penk should talk to Peters and MFAT before mouthing off in public.
Our South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone is something we need to stand by.
Have the security confrontation impasse (South China Sea Taiwan and South Korea) north of Australia, not to its east.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/politics/360986288/nz-should-have-conversation-about-its-nuclear-stance-minister-says
The UK and USA will soon use an island off Perth as a sub port of call.
The USA is developing a shipyard on the coast nearby to be its maintenance hub.
Oz will not get any nuclear subs till the 2040's.
And because they want to be part of their building they come at a ruinous cost.
Their existing subs are a disgrace and should be replaced by better ones – such as the older Japanese ones asap (with an option to buy some of the new ones afterward).
If they want nuke subs they should buy off the South Koreans when they build their own (cheaper and less of them with some modern battery ones from Japan).
Local resilience, regional partnerships.
SPC – further to thinking about nuclear subs and best source – do you know, have an idea, where we could get a good deal on reliable freight/train carrying ferries for the Cook Strait and our stormy seas?
South Korea or China.
The problem is managing the timing, as per the required onshore development and the reliability of existing vessels until then.
Is that for both effectiveness of design and mechanism, and reasonable price and also finished on time? How do they compare with some of the north European-aligned shipyards?
The timing problem is our own.
They are better on price.
Put it this way the Swedish giant Stena Line, one of the world’s largest ferry operators, designs the type they want, but they get the Chinese to build them.
Meh. There is more than one superpower in the Pacific these days. It isn’t like Trump and his lackeys are friends of democracy anymore. Maybe we ought to invite a Chinese ship visit.
I'd be interested in talks with China about borrowing big money for infrastructure development – similar to their "belt and road" initiative.
So fair Lotto lady Willis "reached for the wrong metaphor" – so what! Regretting the use of a metaphor that reveals something of one's private thoughts and/or character – soul even – is only natural. It's a storm in a cuppa tea; "much ado about nothing" – Move-On!
A(t)las, the CoC is 'govt' by and for the sorted – more investment opportunities please.
Had a thought: ACT stands for – Anarchy, Chaos, Tribulation or Trepidation.
Since the 2018 budgets NZ has poured billions into defence, and our depth of interoperable force with Australia vastly increased. NZ taxpayers are not freloading.
We have modernised the air force (oversight and transport) and have plans for the navy (ANZAC to Mozami synchronicity). The development will be in signals/drone tech etc (we might get drone subs to protect cables etc).
The freeloading accusation is interesting. What evidence is there that NZ has avoided threats to its territorial sovereignty since 1945 that would have occurred if the US umbrella was not present? What proportion of US defence spending since 1945 has been used on capital resources that would have been used defensively in the SW Pacific and would not exist otherwise? Or was the umbrella mostly constructed out of posture and messaging without any substantial financial cost to the US? I suspect that people respond to these questions more out of their ideological disposition than anything else.
But suppose the real answer to all that is that we do need to increase defence spending. Then avoiding operational dependency on US technology seems to be a priority for maintaining our sovereignty – given that Trumpism now has to be regarded as a permanent risk in our relations with the US into the future. Though this may be tricky if interoperability with the Australians is important and they are still tied to the US.
Part of Hegseth's motivation is surely that he wants a financial boost for US arms manufacturers. Less obviously, another part is that Trumpism hates social democracy. So, it would be an added ideological victory for them if NZ impoverishes its own citizenry to pay for defence, rather than (say) healthcare, just as the US has done to swathes of their citizens.
As for a boost for US arms manufacturers from purchases by countries that previously were allies:
https://globalnews.ca/news/11869707/canada-surveillance-plane-sweden-saab/
Though Carney says there is 20% US content in this SAAB-Bombardier collaboration.
Meanwhile Canada is considering reducing its F-35 orders and evaluating the Saab Grippen as well.
That's oversimplifying it. We're well isolated from direct threats by thousands of miles of ocean, but we're also part of "the west" – its fall would eventually also be our fall, and even damage to it damages us too.
The last thing we need is to pump billions more of scarce funds into the US/Israeli war machine. These two rogue nations are becoming ever more securely joined at the hip. Tying ourselves even tighter to them means carrying association to genocide and extreme sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners, even those being held with no charges.
From The Cradle:
US-Israel cooperation is unsurprising. The last year's shown Israel's now a more effective military partner for the US than any of the European countries (with the possible exception of Ukraine, but partnership with Ukraine's out of the question while the Trump administration's in office). Israel has built up serious expertise in anti-missile and anti-drone defence for obvious reasons, so of course the US is interested.
It is quite easy to argue the exact opposite of what you say. But that is not the point. The point is the US/Israeli genocide.
A New Zealand government signing defence contracts with Israel would find themselves in opposition very quickly.
And any suggestion this government would dump the nuclear weapons aspect of the legislation would do like-wise I hope. I certainly don't mind a re-evaluation of nuclear power but then NZ doesn't need nuclear power.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2026/may/31/cheaper-energy-bills-battery-revolution-climate-crisis?
Something else we should be copying from Oz.
“The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves pummelled Europe and Asia, and oil markets around the world leapt and sputtered, the two big chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were being demolished. Meanwhile, the Australian energy minister was holding a media conference to hail a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country.
Quietly, and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar power, with panels on one in threehomes. It also remains, however, a major contributor to the climate crisis through its vast fossil fuel exports. But it is batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed.”
Some good news
https://www.stuff.co.nz/world-news/360986367/nhs-cancer-jab-eradicates-tumours
and here
Millions of breast cancer patients could safely avoid chemotherapy, study suggests.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c2325j0xk1vo
What I would say to you is look, you guys, I don't know how to be any clearer to you guys.
Oh, it's clear alright. https://vote.nz/
In RadioNZ a heartening story about a soldier who came through WW1 and Le Quesnoy, (which was a good memory for the country), and later was hurt in a car accident and ended in an unmarked grave.
https://www.rnz.co.nz/life/people/here-lies-a-hero-forgotten-new-zealand-soldier-honoured
Another who helped greatly and uniquely in WW1 and died away from home in Rarotonga in 1936, was Ettie Rout. She took to her heart the soldiers sent to fight, injure or kill, or be so themselves – Ettie Rout. She was up against the po-faced hypocritical stultified sexual rules in the early 1900s that didn't really change until 1970s. She knew the fighters would want sensual and sexual release, and notice of the spread of STDs had begun, and with them the dread syphilis. She arranged with UK health groups and some NZ help to get kits to the men before they went to serve and arranged brothels with hygiene being practised and the men would be safe. Many people in NZ would not be alive today without her care for their male bloodline. On her return to NZ she was hardly acknowledged by the government which had been slow to assist, with a strong disapproval by matrons of good standing, and she wasn't welcomed into right social circles.
https://www.ngataonga.org.nz/search-use-collection/search/6373/
https://www.theelderpinot.com/ettie-rout