Q+A – David Parker reminds everyone why he should be the Leader

By
Martyn Bradbury
-
64
1802

Amazing interview with David Parker which reminds everyone why he should be the Leader.

His argument about NZs geopolitical strategic position, our work on free trade arrangements and NZs need for investment into diplomacy all show Parker has that wide vision that a Prime Minister must have.

He argues we must invest into Drones, which I completely agree with and he makes the case for an Independent NZ.

Trump is a fascist, and this is a truth no one wants to acknowledge.

This isn’t just a blip, this is America becoming fascist.

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We can’t allow our Chinese Economic Overlords to dominate us any more than we can allow  the mad Orange King to rule over us!

We need a real and true Independent New Zealand, but in doing so, we have to understand it is going to cost us.

NZ needs to lift its Military, Aid and Diplomacy to 5% GDP

New Zealand spends  0.3% of its gross national income on official development assistance.

Our diplomatic arm is even less than that with a cost annually of around $500million.

Our military spend is 1.2%.

I believe we have four choices confronting our new geopolitical reality as a friction point between America and China.

1 – We capitulate to our Chinese Economic Overlords.

2 – We capitulate to our American Political Masters.

3 – We freeze in terror and make no decisions and allow both of them to molest us until one of them wins and takes us over as a vassal State.

4 – We get off our knees, stand on our two feet, acknowledge the reality of climate change and decide to properly fund (via taxing the wealthy elite) an Independent Foreign Policy.

I have no interest in the first three options.

I believe we need to lean into our strengths and we must lift our Military, Diplomacy and AID budgets up collectively to 5%.

1% AID

1% to our Diplomacy arm.

3% to our military.

AID

We have an obligation as a first world country to provide an AID budget that is free of political considerations and is focused on actual welfare of people. We need a far kinder and more generous Aid budget with none of the attached strings other countries try to push. It’s this no strings attached generosity that wins hearts and minds as opposed to the fish hooks of great nations.

We need to stop exploiting Pacific people for fruit labouring and instead pay them properly and house them properly.

We need to look to Universal Union Membership for all migrant workers to stop exploitation.

 

Diplomacy

Enemy to none, friend to all should be our mantra. We need to lean into NZs reputation as Independent and we need to bulk up our embassies and diplomacy and use the strengths of our culture and pacifism to stand for universal human rights and the rule based order.

We must spend aid money on basic infrastructure while acknowledging  China can out spend us, so how can NZ maintain its influence in the Pacific while desperately countering the outrageous level of corruption China and America promotes and so many Pacific Governments revel in?

Auckland is the largest Pacific Island City and we do little to celebrate or leverage off that. We need to look at offering fundamental migration opportunities for Tuvalu, Tokelau and Kiribati who face the worst impacts of climate change but we also need to think outside the square in terms of not only countering Chinese influence but beating it.

I think two ways NZ could uniquely promote its interests into the Pacific against China could be via Rugby Diplomacy and Journalism.

The All Blacks doing a tour of the South Pacific would actually be of huge cultural and sporting importance and something the Government should sponsor with taxpayer dollars to help subsidise the costs to the All Blacks as a sign of respect to the sporting and cultural contribution Pacific Island nations have provided NZ.

Why shouldn’t we use Rugby as a diplomatic tool to build standing throughout the Pacific? It’s something China couldn’t match and something NZ could excel at. China might build the stadiums, but they will be watching NZ Rugby in them!

Likewise Journalism. AUT run the excellent Pacific Media Centre to promote quality Journalism throughout the Pacific. What if NZ saw the promotion of quality Journalism as a craft throughout the Pacific as a strong way to counter corruption and Chinese influence? Scholarships, Pacific News Media websites, support of local ethical journalism these could be the pillars of promoting corruption free politics and holding those Governments to account.

Dr Robie, formerly founding director of AUT’s Pacific Media Centre and a professor of Pacific journalism has launched an independent news and current affairs website to complement his long-established Asia Pacific Report. His work should be promoted throughout the Pacific!

Rugby diplomacy and promotion of Journalistic standards throughout the Pacific could counter China and promote NZs strategic interests.

We need to look at setting up Peace Camps at Marae where young people from warring zones can come to NZ as a Peace centre.

 

Military 

We can’t pretend we are in a benign environment any longer. We need a military that is focused on peace keeping and defence.

We need a drone manufacturing industry and we need an expansion of drones for patrolling our economic zone and defend the Realm.

We need a better coast guard and more surveillance capacity.

Arguments that we can’t afford huge ships are valid, but drones have shown us that we can hit expensive ships for very little cost, and if the focus is defending NZ and not going on foreign military adventures, we can use NZ as one giant air craft carrier with Drones.

We can’t outspend China or America, but we can play a far smarter game and end up with an Independent Foreign Policy.

If we want to be independent – we need to lift military, Aid and Diplomacy spending to 5% GDP.

David Parker is smart and the Left are lucky to have him.

 

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64 COMMENTS

  1. Before we increase defence spending how about we get all our naval personnel to re-sit their Master Mariners Certificates?

    • That’s kind of assumed in the DCP. I don’t know what’s in the DCP due for release last month but the navy ain’t the only branch that’s forgotten how to fight.

  2. A lot is going to depend on big power games. Wad the USA the aggressor and got its teeth kicked in? Or was China the aggressor and gets its teeth kicked in?

    Even without the myriad other elements, this would almost certainly result in two very different post-conflict situations.

    The US would probably rebuild for a potential round two and analyze why they lost and fix the problem. And probably dump even more money into the military as a result.

    They’re probably not going to take being defeated very well even if it means some nasty domestic upheavals as a result. Either way, future US/Chinese Governments are going to be pretty hardline for a very long time.

    Big question is what happens with North Korea, Ukraine and Israel. As New Zealand repositions towards Asian allies it craters relations with China and America at the detriment of the above mentioned battle fields. We need America’s military if there is going to be any hope of reducing those conflict zones. Decisive losses of n any of these areas will significantly weaken all of us.

    I have a hard time not seeing states like Japan kicking American garrisons out and going hard for WMDs.

    The second confidence in the U.S. fails everyone will be in the wilderness with all the wolves.

    It all comes down to controlling tensions or taking advantage of economic opportunities this is why diplomacy and aid is exactly the rational solution.

    I highly doubt that New Zealand’s response will be “not our war.” Hell predicting long term strategic outcomes a decade from now is supremely hard. I mean just look at the world of 1981 compared to 1991 or 1935 and 1945 as examples. Not really easy to accurately predict the future beyond a few weeks out.

    Assume it will happen.

  3. Yes definitely, David Parker would be Labour’s most experienced and balanced politician. He also stands for what many of his supporters want now and wanted last change of leader. Please, not Labour’s current deputy – she’s nowhere near Parker’s calibre. McAnulty is not ready but can be prepared for the position in the future, so too Edmonds, while Jackson would make a great deputy. Time for a significant change – Hipkins is a ‘nice’ person but not a strong leader. Your “enemy to none, friend to all” mantra is so Kiwi. Significant changes need to be brought in by Labour. We cannot continue on this “no hope” road and this current lot of knee-jerking, corrupt charlatans must go – the sooner the better.

    • please tell me how and when he hated farming. David Parker aimed to rope in the endless ruination of our soils. Endlessly putting super phosphate on the land is plain stupid.
      How many cancers do we need to have before people realise the link between all this shit and how we get cancer.
      The Cancer Industry is what I call it, 45 charitable organisations no doubt with big fat salaries for the CEOs for what… are they challenging the poisons we have in canterbury rivers from too many cows being farmed here.

      • Binders full of women is full of slogans, anti Labour because of the unfounded belief Labour are anti farmers yet can offer no evidence.

  5. What do you think would happen if you hit an expensive Chinese warship with drones?

    If you want to stand up to China and deter them from attacking, you are going to need far more than drones

    • Tell that to Answar Allah, they have beaten the U.S. Navy twice in the last 18 months

    • With trumponimics the way they are we can’t rely on American made. That means producing our own lines of military stuff.

    • Advanced naval ships are not easily knocked out by cheap drones. They will be shot down by the ship’s point defence system. The Ukrainian attacks on the Russian Navy don’t really prove the drone concept.The Russian ships are old and defended with 40 year old weapons systems.

      Modern Navies with new or upgraded ships have defence systems that will take out any drones. Though of course the ships are vulnerable to advanced air launched supersonic and hypersonic . Hypersonic tech is one of the reasons to be part of AUKUS Pillar Two, though I do accept Mr Parker’s view that President Trump has not made joining AUKUS Pillar Two as saleable as it once was. It is a matter of looking beyond the Trump administration. After all security arrangements are supposed to last decades.

      • Ukraine was never meant to win this. It’s all down to revolutionary technology keeping them in the game. It’s like watching a cloud side take on Georgia (international side). For that matter America hasn’t taken on anyone of note since WW2. You, Wayne, can not put New Zealand in that club. We’ve taken on Super Powers before in WW1/2 with all the gun emplacements around NZ and Maori vs The Crowne.

        What this generation is doing with advanced technologies and top secret clearance right this very second they’ve already talked about the nagging and counter measures you old people can come up with years ago and they know bad of know what they want to do. Where do you think drones came from in the first place it was then testing there is as on the battlefield.

        Your mobile device is another example all the features, apps and technology it’s them the next generation. I think you’ll find that they’re ahead of this. He’ll even primary school students can hack police computers.

      • Oh and by the way the U.S. is just looking for new suckers to fund there rearmament. Don’t be one of those suckers Wayne.

        • The likely increases in defence spending won’t primarily go to US suppliers. For instance the most likely frigate replacements will be either German or Japanese.

          • Australia will give use a good deal on our frigate replacement on so many levels it makes sense. There’s no other replacement for Javelin anti tank missiles I can concede that capability will be renewed by the U.S. the only thing I want to hear is Chippie coming out strong saying the Greens will be right out of it.

      • You don’t hit warships with flying drones. You launch anti-ship missiles from them.

        Ukraine has sunk small and medium sized warships with sea drones.

        Drone technology is only getting better.

        • Not sure that entrusting half a million dollar+ missiles to autonomous vehicles is the way. Perhaps rocket launchers definitely machine guns but nothing more than it would cost to produce the drone itself. Perhaps the P8s can act as stand off missile trucks. It’s just hitting a moving target at beyond visual range takes a lot of skills that the communications lag and distances involved isn’t something that it’s time has come. Drones can jam communications or spurge enemy targeting systems but as far as putting sometimes multi million dollar missiles in the clutches of enemy counter measures with very little human finesse when the technology to do so isn’t apparent I think will be a waste of time.

          Just one of those characters chinese warships had over a hundred vertical launch tubes. The Australian Anzacs has max 16 anti ship missiles or 32 for the pair of them tailing the chinese warships. These are just self defence capabilities there Anzacs weren’t meant to win a coral sea engagement. If denying access to our EEZ is the mission then the Airforce is going to need fighter jets. We can’t really rearm frigates in a contested area when there mission is to keep eyes on and feed Prefect information back to decision makers an air combated force is kind of needed it’s a flight of 8 fighter jets carrying 16 anti ship missiles can get in and out. Fire off there missiles quickly rearm then rinse and repeat until you’ve drained all of there anti air missiles and then we can negotiate there unconditional surrender. That’s just one anti access aerial denial capability and I would argue that draining an adversaries anti air missiles (even using drones in place of hidiously expensive missiles) is far more moral and way more cheaper.

  7. David’s high intellect and communication skills are what this country needs right now in leadership and especially foreign affairs. His intelligent insights however on geopolitics, the military and trade will typically go over the heads of at least 40% of the electorate who continually have trouble seeing past the boardroom door or the farm gate.

    • Exactly, but these days everyone is hung up on charisma. I think his jokes might be too clever for the average person. He doesn’t swill sausage rolls and doesn’t tick the diversity box but I think his wit is cutting and accurate. I saw him once, get the better of Mitchell and if looks could kill, Mr. Parker would no longer be with us.
      Others see only McAnulty but, I agree with whoever said, he lacks experience.
      Maybe Parker and Jackson?
      Jackson and Parker?
      Either / Or.
      Both.
      But SOMETHING, SOON!!!!!!
      Something to hope for before everything is lost.

      • Agree Joy, I go Jackson/Parker. Parker is not a leader and does have the charisma which Jackson has in spades. He is a natural and I don’t get why more people are not promoting him for the role.

        • Have thought for ages that Jackson was obvious. I think McAnulty would be a waste of time until he gets a few more years under his belt.
          Jackson/ Parker would have the intellectual heft and long experience required, not to make stupid gaffes like we see from the present Clowns.
          Jackson ticks nearly every box and I think we’d be lucky to have him throw his hat in the ring. Would also like to see Chippy face facts and go quietly.
          Ooh, I’m biting my nails worrying about what Darien might have to say!

  9. ‘The RNZN does not have Master Mariners tickets’ Right !
    My point is – no use spending more money on defence if silly bastards keep running ships into coral reefs.

  10. The best politician of the last decade but the elite kept bribing others to under cut him because he would not allow them to make another billion at the expense of the poor .
    What NZ needs now is to ,next week ,get off our arses and get all the Pacific nations along with AUS and set up a single trade group .We are better to move to a group of like minded countries from our region getting their shit together and work to a common goal of creating a great region .The biggest problem would keeping NZ and AUS egos under control .We might even be able to set up a massive trading block with a lot of Asian countries and Japan .

  12. Chippy needs to walk I am really concerned that they may get in with him at the helm, walk to victory without a bloody clue.

    Someone said something here about Barbara Edmonds. Really, this is someone who when she was on with Guyon and was asked if she would reverse the tax cuts the richest got her response was ‘well it is very hard to take money off people’……………………. pathetic!!!!!!!!!!

    • The main thing is, Chippy must not hang on thinking the tide will turn and people will forget. His best moment was the look he had on his face, standing behind Wayne Brown making a big fat mess talking about the Auckland floods. Once that moment had passed it was all downhill.
      He’s probably a nice guy but more is needed. A bit of a scrapper. Someone who’s seen a bit of life. Jackson.

  13. Drones – material man soaked in science – hoist on his own petard.
    We have someone here who developed a car that can drive into water but there was an accident in the USA which could bring in large insurance claims. Our gummint could have bought up the rights and taken on the insurance which would have been less in NZ terms – if we were using it here which could have been a civil defence use – in flood times.
    Also why haven’t we used hovercraft which could move over destroyed roads to enable a rough line of transport and communication.

    Why drones – they will be used in abusive ways and be unpleasant to see and hear above and around us, and be used as a surveillance tool, and do good couriers out of jobs. What a lot of drones we are in Kiwiland. This country is unable to hold to any pleasant achievable vision of the future at a human level of community.

    • By virtue of its weight of population and land mass New Zealand has a duty to be a regional super power so that it’s realms including South Pacific nations such as Samoa, Tonga and Fiji aren’t on there own. You don’t have any rights other than the rights granted to you by strong men willing to die on a ditch for what they believe in.

      • Super power my arse where do you think you are living .A population of 5 million ,mostly refugees from other countries and fuck all of an economy .Where do you think the money will come from we cant even feed our population because we export 99% of the food we produce to pay for our oil fetish .We cant afford new hospitals or decent homes for every person living here .So how the fuck do you think we are going to become a super power .

        • ‘Superpower’ is the new message that the Promotions centre have adopted for artificially hyping our pretensions in the world. Probably based on Brunei.

          A look into the luxurious life of the Sultan of Brunei …
          financialexpress.com
          https://www.financialexpress.com › life › lifestyle
          18 Aug 2023 — Hassanal Bolkiah’s luxurious life. After ascending to the throne in August 1968, the Sultan achieved several developmental milestones and has ..
          ****
          The sultan has been ranked among the wealthiest individuals in the world. As of 2023, Hassanal Bolkiah is said to have a net worth of $30 billion. He is the world’s longest-reigning current monarch and the longest-serving current head of state
          *****
          Why is Sultan Brunei so rich?
          The source of Sultan’s wealth is largely derived from Brunei’s oil and gas reserves. According to Fox news, one of Sultan’s most notable possessions is the world’s largest private car collection. Valued at $5 billion, his collection features over 7,000 luxury cars.29 Oct 2024
          Brunei Sultan: 7,000 cars, over 1,700-room palace, and ₹4,300-cr …
          The Economic Times https://m.economictimes.com › global-trends › articleshow
          ****
          About the history of this small country. Look at British intervention and the Brookes
          land accumulation.
          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunei
          ****
          What is the richest smallest country in the world? (The USA view.)
          Overview of Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a landlocked country in Western Europe with Belgium to the west, France to the south and Germany to the east. The country is one of the smallest in the world, as well as one of the wealthiest. Castles and churches dot its forests and rolling hills.
          Luxembourg – Rankings, News | U.S. News Best Countries
          USNews.com https://www.usnews.com › news › luxembourg.

          • Without putting big machine guns in the hands of beer loving rambunctious adolescent 20 something year Olds sometimes winning bar fights over the right to bed the local country girl every now and then your rights and every other human rights don’t exist. Rights come with an extremely interwoven duty to protect and maintain human rights.

          • I think if that comment gets unpicked Sam it will be found that there are some loose…threads there.

          • My argument is that Human rights do not exist. Sure they’re written down but they have to be enforced by “force.” Same with any other type of legal right there has to an enforcement regime that for under writes human rights in exactly the same way America underwrites the rules based order.

            What I’m about to write now isn’t my argument but look at The Ukraine war. They can’t rely on allies helping them out all the time. Allies can fill the capabilities gaps for a time but allies are not going to fund someone else war all of the time.

        • Smaller nations like Samoa can not meet a naval task force on the high seas but New Zealand can and neither can New Zealand meet every security breach in the south pacific so we have to have an interoperable military with our pacific cousins that makes sense to everyone. This isn’t an opportunity to beat me over the head about a toxic policy environment to vulnerable kiwis it’s a defence capability plan currently earmarked for a $12 billion funding injection raising defence spending to +2%. This isn’t a theoretical discussion it’s about what capability do we need to deliver on a place that people and investment want to come to and second how much does that cost. That will do more to improve the lot of the disadvantage mole people than having a big whine on the internet. Like go bitch to your local MP about it.

  14. Of the 5% – 4.75% to defence and .25% to diplomacy.
    Shelve the aid and particularly anything to the f**king Cooks.

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