Hegseth’s NZ Insult Proves We Need An Independent Foreign Policy

Ex-Defence Minister Wayne Mapp pushes back on US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth’s ‘freeloading’ claim

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend – a regional security summit for Indo-Pacific countries – United States Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth singled out New Zealand for “freeloading” off America’s military by only increasing defence spending from 1% to 2% of GDP.

Hegseth told attendees that the US now expects that number to be 3.5% of GDP, saying allies could no longer treat defence spending as “an afterthought” as he called the proposed percentage the “new global norm”.

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NZ Herald

Hegseth is a full-blown alcoholic Christo-fascist white nationalist culture-war clown who recently quoted the fake Bible verse from Pulp Fiction to families at a prayer breakfast. How dare he denigrate NZ, and how dare we respond by cowering to this KKK thug!

In light of his derogatory statement, NZ must consider a truly independent foreign policy.

I believe we have four choices confronting our new geopolitical reality as a friction point between United States 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.

An independent foreign policy means paying for independence

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 the 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 NZ’s 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 outspend 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 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 for 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 NZ’s 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.

Rugby, journalism and diplomacy are Pacific power too

Military 

We can’t pretend we are in a benign environment any longer. We need a military that is focused on peacekeeping 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 aircraft 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% of GDP.