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

In the Solomon Islands, New Zealand Police and our Defence Force have worked as part of the Regional Assistance Mission under Australian leadership to bring hope back into the lives of the Solomon Islanders. The important thing about the intervention in the Solomons is that it was undertaken at the request of the Solomons Government and was backed by the other countries in the region. While tremendous progress has been made during the first year in disarming the bad guys and re-establishing the rule of law, we all know that it’s going to be a long haul restoring the economy and rebuilding the institutions of government.

Also in the Pacific, Australia and New Zealand worked together in Bougainville, bringing peace there after 10 years of bloody civil war. And while East Timor is not part of the South Pacific we were the first peacekeeping force to support Australia and our three-year commitment was valued highly by the Australian Government, as well as by the East Timorese.

To help tackle some of the problems confronting the small Pacific nations, New Zealand and Australia, together with their Pacific partners, have agreed on a bold new plan to promote economic growth, sustainable development, good governance and security in the region. The plan will strengthen the Pacific Forum, under which heads of government, including the Prime Ministers of Australia and New Zealand, meet annually, and lead to much deeper co-operation in the region.

Work is underway on transport issues: How many airlines, for example, can the Pacific countries really sustain? The short answer is fewer than exist currently. Other possibilities for sharing include a regional panel of judges, a regional financial intelligence unit, and joint training courses for managers and parliamentarians.

Moving further out, Asia remains of great importance to New Zealand, as it does for Australia. We’re both working hard on closer engagement with Asia, especially our major trading partners in that region. Like Australia, we’ve put a lot of effort into our links with ASEAN, and for the first time Prime Minister Howard and Prime Minister Clark have been invited to attend a Summit meeting with ASEAN leaders later this year. In Southeast Asia, New Zealand’s participation, together with Australia, in the Five Power Defence Arrangements is a practical demonstration of our commitment to the peace and stability of the region.

Of all potential security threats to New Zealand - and to Australia and many other countries - terrorism is now the biggest concern. The perpetrators of the  September 11 attacks on the US achieved a new and horrible benchmark in terrorism. The Bali bombings in October 2002 bought terrorism to our doorstep. New Zealand’s commitment to the war against terrorism has been staunch, and we will continue to play a full part.

In Afghanistan, we had our SAS there for 12 months from late 2001 and have recently redeployed 60 SAS for another 6 months. We had two frigates deployed in the Maritime Interdiction Operation in the Gulf in 2002 and have sent another frigate back in. We’ve also had our P3 Orion aircraft patrolling in the Gulf region in support of anti terrorist efforts.

In addition, we’ve commanded a Provincial Reconstruction Team in Afghanistan since last September and will be keeping it there until September 2005 - a two-year commitment. Our Provincial Reconstruction Team is based in Bamian province, 200 kilometres north of Kabul, at an altitude of 8,500 feet, close to where the great Buddha statues were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001. The team is helping with reconstruction efforts and providing a more secure environment in which the people of the province can look to rebuilding their lives.

In Iraq an engineering detachment of over 60 New Zealand defence force personnel, working on reconstruction and humanitarian tasks will complete 12 months deployment later this year. We’re looking at other ways we can provide assistance to help Iraq over the sad legacy of its past.

The new security threats which have emerged since the end of the Cold War extend beyond violent acts of terrorism There are other trans-national issues such as drugs, arms trafficking, money-laundering, and people smuggling, which are part of a worrying picture of international criminal activity, as well as in many cases being directly linked to terrorists.

New Zealand is not alone in taking the view that actions to destroy terrorist organisations must be accompanied by measures to tackle the issues, which help terrorist recruitment. Injustice, poverty, and the lack of opportunity can all give rise to the hopelessness and desperation that feeds the terrorists cause.

With 4 million people we have about one fifth of Australia’s population. We don’t have unlimited resources at our disposal and we have to make realistic judgements about what we can achieve and what it will cost. Our smallness also helps explain the importance we attach to relationship building. It makes sense for us to work with other countries, most notably Australia, on issues, which are important to us.