US President Joe Biden, centre, meets with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, right, and Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the AUKUS summit on 13 March, 2023, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego California. Photo: AFP / Jim Watson
It's important New Zealand works out what it can contribute if it decides to join the AUKUS military alliance, Defence Minister Judith Collins says.
Her comments come after RNZ revealed on Thursday that Defence officials have been pitching the benefits of joining the international military alliance for months.
An Official Information Act briefing to the previous defence minister lists eight opportunities for researchers and industry, but all are blanked out in documents released to RNZ.
Collins is expected to raise the prospect of joining the non-nuclear part of the deal - called Pillar 2 - in talks with her counterpart in Melbourne on Thursday.
Pillar two is focused on rapidly developing and sharing military technology among the AUKUS partners - Australia, the UK and the US - including drones and hypersonics.
The US has said the door is open to New Zealand with politicians here welcoming the idea.
However, critics say it would be a shift away from the current defence strategy where helping Pacific neighbours is key.
Collins told Australian media on Wednesday New Zealand must not freeload and might even be able to help out through its space industry.
She told Morning Report on Thursday there would be implications that would need to be worked through if New Zealand and other countries were allowed to join the alliance.
"It's still pretty early days when it comes to just what that means and obviously anything we do needs to be in New Zealand's best interests."
There was a long way to go, she believed, and it depended on the willingness of the three existing members.
Judith Collins on joining non-nuclear part of AUKUS alliance
While the US has been positive, New Zealand also needed to work out what it would bring to the alliance.
"That is very important. You've got to bring your food to the party, don't you? And that's what we are working through."
She believed New Zealand could offer work it had done in the area of technological advancement, especially in the space sector.
"The issue is, is that what is wanted and also what is that cost ... It's just a very vague area at the moment while things are still getting worked through."
Judith Collins is keen the country's technology initiatives could be a selling point to impress the AUKUS partners. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
It was not in the country's best interests to discuss the technology initiatives in an open forum and the discussions today would remain confidential, she said.
However, the government would ensure New Zealanders were made aware of the benefits and risks of joining AUKUS.
"New Zealanders need to know what that means and we're just still working through quite what that means because we've got to get a full understanding about what is wanted from us and what we can actually deliver."
Collins was asked about the risks, particularly the possibility of offending China.
She said the relationship was strong with China, particularly economically, and the government would be doing its best to continue to engage with it positively.
However, there were other areas to be worked on, including defence capability.
"Our defence has been absolutely gutted in the last three years and we've got to build that back."
While defence would have to play its part in reining in expenditure, it was no secret that spending would need to be allocated this year particularly for capital.