AUKUS
This is what separates the men from the women and the boys from the men – if you care about your country, you don’t have a choice but to understand and discuss these issues when politics fails to function.
AUKUS is a military alliance between Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States – for various reasons it excludes both Canada and New Zealand.
This military pact is part of a global realignment and some considerable international aggrevation.
The simple explanation is tension between Europe and China and one might say, a relationship too cosy for some others.
Within this pact is an agreement for US assistance in establishing a nuclear powered submarine fleet based in South Australia.
The French, although they have protested loudly at the loss of their contract to supply conventional submarines to Australia, will now supply submarines to India.
This supports another alliance called the QUAD Force. India, Australia, Japan and the US.
At the centre of this is an expanding China, or at least one that wishes to expand to support its communist economy and goals.
Between China, and the Democratic Republic of China (Taiwan and all its associated territories) sits HMS QE11 a British battleship with joint UK and US squadrons on board and is accompanied by a flotilla of other naval vessels.
No body wants to push the nuclear button of course but the simple equation exists, this time as it did in the previous conflict.
One side relies on endless debt, the other on military investment.
Only one side can win this game.
In the meantime behind our seemingly innocent position of neutrality we have a similar choice.
We are the next most likely country in the international community to become a communist country.
We will in essence be the new Cuba off the coast of Australia.
In the collapse of the former Soviet Union, that older readers will remember, all their vassal states collapsed along with that communist collapse, except for Cuba.
The reason that Cuba has maintained its marginal survival is through the support of Venezuela.
By the same reasoning New Zealand cannot be a communist country in isolation. While this country does have the option of a closer relationship with China, that will also jeopardise its relationship with the Commonwealth and its longstanding relationship with Australia.
Both the remnants of the Commonwealth and the French lead NATO community could not exist in a global communist world. We see the French announcement now that they will increase their military investment.
At home here we have one person who is both our foreign minister and our local body minister waging war on councils and for political control of the country.
You may recall the BBC article last year saying democracy is at risk in NZ – yes it is and so is the risk of us being a global spectacle of civil disruption if not civil war, if our politicians continue to fail.
Hard to be in a nuke sub club when you have a law that prevents nuke powered vessels in NZ.
To keep this gender based, my question is, are there tens of thousands of men who no longer have the pride in New Zealand as they once did? Treated rather poorly across all fields of life from uneven child family separation outcomes, excluded from consideration in male only health problems, publicly shamed before criminal trials, higher penalties in sentencing than the other gender receives. Lets not forget the loss of exclusively owned property after 2 to 3 years of a live-in girlfriend.
Calling all able-bodied men to fight for family, fight for your way of life. Hmmmm.
To be part of communist China? I do not think that is going to happen.
Comment by Lukenz — Thu 30th September 2021 @ 2:41 pm
@1 You may need to take a broader reach in your thinking.
One possibility for example would be North and South New Zealand as we see with the Korean Peninsula.
China in the other hand exists by virtue of its relative success in delivering the ideal of poverty reduction. When expansion can longer create success the implosion takes the vassal states with them – not actually part of the country but consequently part of it.
AUKUS in these senses is more than a nuclear agreement.
Comment by Evan Myers — Fri 1st October 2021 @ 1:37 pm
It’s about the money.
The French don’t get it.
Someone else gets it.
Billions, so not spare change.
Since separation from Europe, the UK needs friends.
What’s better than a new thing.
Not that they made new friends, in the deal.
It’s established friends.
But a new name, AUKUS.
When they run out of spending money.
Will NATO go for cost savings.
It’s hard to see a war happening.
If you were Russia, would you attack Europe.
With China, at your rear end.
They can make drones faster.
Searching, out to sea.
Finding all the expensive submarines.
War never works out well.
Even the winner has graveyards to the lost.
Even in conventional war.
Syria shows the ease of destroying things.
City’s wrecked.
Lives harmed.
Luckily this is about the money.
And toy boats.
Imagine if governments spent the money on spaceships instead.
They are nearly identical, to submarines.
And you can do cool things, in space.
Comment by DJ Ward — Fri 1st October 2021 @ 5:24 pm
That’s an extraordinary appeal to authority … that someone else gets it?
That would depend on who your someone is and what country they are in and what their ideological and economic reasoning might be?
Comment by Downunder — Sat 2nd October 2021 @ 7:26 am
We will have nuclear subs, next door.
Driven by Australians.
Obviously a low carbon option.
And generally safe, with very bad exceptions.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/world/300450677/rollsroyce-secures-865m-to-develop-mini-nuclear-power-plants-for-the-uk
I don’t advocate this solution in NZ.
Its when you have no options, that risk is gambled with.
I like this subject, as it is relevant to space travel.
Humans will need lots of power, to survive.
Unlike the submarine, there’s no sea, to help cooling.
The reactor, must be self contained.
And maintenance free.
It may need to last decades, even centuries.
Even a Mars colony, will likely go nuclear.
And solves power issues, for the moons long night.
The solution may not be in working reactors.
But a mass of radioactive material (waste), giving off heat.
Tiny radioactive power generation, already possible.
Comment by DJ Ward — Wed 10th November 2021 @ 10:59 pm
There is consequences, to disposing our monarchy.
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/opinion/127734017/lets-have-a-kiwi-as-our-head-of-state
Presently if the queen goes to war, we join in.
If the AUKUS, were to engage in war.
Don’t we get bullied along, to take sides.
Yet we are clearly a nation, no a small continent of its own.
How then do you decide, who that person is.
And more importantly, there powers.
What we have now, and for some time is autonomy from the monarchy.
In that the prime minister, is the leader.
We can’t actually erase the arrangement, from history.
And look what it created, in such a short time.
We seem to have a formula, that works well.
It seems we experience, some protest at people using power.
Our prime minister, having many negative comments.
And some protest about her, is taking place now.
With accusations of the dictatorship, which is true.
Voters let her be the outright leader, the first in some time.
Thankfully one can resort, to logic.
As we have things like cabinet, and a functioning media.
No decision can be made on this issue, without settling the treaty.
So changing from a largely pretend monarchy, to a substitute is possible.
As it could be settled, and good governance maintained.
If the protests say anything, is that humans can be easily divided.
I don’t support 1080, as other ways exist.
But I must trust the experts, who make hard decisions about land.
It the other ways are failing, did they have no choice.
I should not then be against 1080, but accept it.
Protesting for the other ways, as it’s likely the solution.
The dictator may stop 1080, but then do more harm.
Not putting trust in others, to decide things.
You cannot avoid, that there is one leader in charge.
But many who limit there powers, is just as important.
At some point a leader, must be forced to have consensus.
Comment by DJ Ward — Fri 11th February 2022 @ 8:32 pm
This is a good post, to talk about the military.
What is it’s role, in this millennia.
As for AUKUS, Ukraine has made its own list.
We are on it, by our actions we have become members.
The subject came up, because of the floods.
People taking charge, trying to stop looting.
These things, are meant to test us.
COVID like a plague tested us, and globally millions died.
The Christchurch earthquake, tested us.
And the floods, will have its own story.
Many things happen, when we need help.
Many things happen, when others need help.
People taking charge happened, because nobody did.
The police, simply to few in number.
So what is the military’s role, in these things.
Because it’s not like they don’t help, they do.
But all those disasters, show we can do better.
A storm is coming, it doesn’t look good.
500 soldiers are sent in advance, with 10 days rations.
They execute a plan, made for the area.
The high risk areas and things, already known.
Each swearing in, temporarily becoming MPs.
Guarding abandoned homes, and flooded roads.
Reacting to events, as they happen.
The soldiers waited, in there barracks.
Slept in beds, as it washed lives away.
Waiting for action, some kind of action.
What war do soldiers fight, when we are at peace.
Comment by DJ Ward — Fri 3rd March 2023 @ 10:12 pm