New Zealand has left the door open to becoming involved in AUKUS after new leader Christopher Luxon signalled the nation’s nuclear ban was no stumbling block to military co-operation.
Mr Luxon met with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for his first official trip abroad on Wednesday.
The Kiwi leader described the AUKUS defence pact as an “important element” to regional stability and peace and vowed New Zealand would do its “share of the heavy lifting”.
“We will always have our nuclear-free position. That’s not non-negotiable for us in New Zealand,” Mr Luxon told reporters in Sydney.
But Mr Luxon stressed he was interested in “exploring” the opportunities for New Zealand to participate in pillar two of the tripartite agreement.
The AUKUS pact was signed with the United Kingdom and the United States in 2021 with the goal of Australia acquiring eight nuclear-powered submarines.
Pillar two of the agreement involves developing advanced technologies to support defence and security capabilities.
New Zealand is not part of the agreement nor was it asked to join pillar one.
Mr Luxon’s predecessor, Chris Hipkins, had also left the door open to pillar two but in an election debate in September was more evasive, insisting he preferred “other arrangements”.
Earlier this year, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken extended an invitation to the then-Labour government to sign on to pillar two.
The nation’s defence policy review, released in August, also indicated an openness to “co-operate with close security partners” on AUKUS.
But Mr Albanese insisted he would not be pushing Mr Luxon to sign off on anything.
“(He) leads a sovereign government. So what sovereign governments do is not push each other,” Mr Albanese said.
“They talk through issues and they co-operate and we’ll do that and we’ll look for opportunities where there are prospects of greater co-operation.”
The Prime Minister said he was pleased at the response from nations at the recent Pacific Island Forum to AUKUS, noting the pact was for nuclear-propelled, not nuclear-armed, submarines.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles will meet with their newly-elected counterparts, Winston Peters and Judith Collins, “as quickly as possible” in the new year.