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August 07, 2023
As NZ inches towards conflict, Māori Party neutrality demands attention
Martyn Bradbury
Posted On August 7, 2023
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Last week the New Zealand Minister of Defence Andrew Little released a new Defence posture that critics have claimed amounts to preparing for war with China.
It will see us align strongly with our traditional allies while highlighting geopolitical threats from China, climate change and the erosion of the rule of law.
While we must defend ourselves from undue influence from China, let’s not get dragged into another pointless American War!
Let us not pretend that our traditional allies haven’t been very prolific when it comes to using violence against people in deplorable ways:
LaosCambodiaGuatemalaChileArgentinaVietnamNicaraguaEl SalvadorHondurasGrenadaPanamaYugoslaviaSomaliaPakistanSudanMaliAfghanistanIraqLibyaSyriaUkraine
Yemen
These are countries America has bombed in the last 75 years, so let’s not tie ourselves to the violence of our traditional allies no matter how traditional or ally they are.
I don’t believe it is in our best interests to side with anyone who is pushing for conflict.
We should be friend to all, enemy to none and we should use our independent voice to call for diplomacy first and foremost rather than conflict and war.
The only Party pushing a different view on foreign affairs is the Māori Party with their call for neutrality.
This is a fascinating idea and deserves far more investigation and debate.
We can not pretend that there aren’t global forces and geopolitical tensions at play in our region, but the focus should be on diplomacy and protecting New Zealand.
Neutrality doesn’t mean no military, and indeed would require more money invested in hardware that could be used to defend our waters while providing climate crisis disaster help.
Signing up for a fight we don’t want isn’t the kind of future we fought for.
New Zealand needs to fight for peace using words while protecting our lands and our home fires.
The Māori Party is the only one arguing for a different thinking.
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