It would be wrong of us to remember the sacrifice many gave for our democracy without analysing where our current threats are and whether our armed forces are ready for them.
Claims by American analysts that there will be a military conflict with China in the Pacific within 2 years must be resisted lest they become self-fulfilling prophecy, but like every public service that has been tested recently, we have underfunded our Military for decades and there must be serious scrutiny of what we need them for now and if they are fit for purpose.
In this endeavour, the Māori Party has released a unique policy arguing for Aotearoa New Zealand to be militarily neutral while increasing military funding to increase our capacity to protect New Zealand and not some far-away conflict.
Legendary Green Party MP Keith Locke once described New Zealand’s foreign policy as ‘Enemy to none, friend to all’ and certainly we should look at diplomacy first and foremost, but at some point, our national interest requires more than diplomacy.
One of the promises of ANZAC Day is that we won’t sacrifice so easily the next generation for wars of self-interest and profit, so allowing ourselves to get caught up in the vortex of conflict some of our allies are generating makes no sense.
A staunch defence of our own country before getting pulled into pointless wars must be the lesson we learn from ANZAC Day and the Māori Party policy idea needs discussion.
Urgently, because the drum beat for war is already echoing across the Pacific.
We can not remember those who sacrificed on ANZAC Day without considering our current threats.
First published on Waatea News.
