Kia Ora and welcome to the Spring 2021 – and 21st – issue of Line of Defence. It’s been a big few months in the Defence and National Security space.
As I write this Editor’s Note I’m particularly conscious of the announcement just a couple of days ago of the new AUKUS trilateral security partnership between the US, UK and Australia. It’s a big announcement, and one that the Morrison Government is making much positive noise about, not least because it stands to take eventual delivery of 12 nuclear powered attack submarines.
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The announcement caught the world unaware, including an apoplectic French Government, which recalled its Ambassadors to the UK and Australia in protest over the killing of its $90bn Australian submarine deal. The European Union too couldn’t have been overly impressed; unaware of the potential clash, it had launched its Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific on the same day as the Biden-Johnson-Morrison announcement.
Beijing has predictably sounded its disappointment at what it sees as the latest expression of containment of China by the US-led Anglosphere. Commentators seem polarised on the question of whether the new partnership will promote stability within the Indo Pacific region or erode it.
Polarisation appears also to be the case among New Zealand commentators. Should New Zealand have been invited to join the partnership? How will the development alter New Zealand’s strategic outlook? What about the Five Eyes going forward? Are there interoperability implications? Will New Zealand need to step up as a result, or have we just dodged a bullet in terms of needlessly upsetting our largest trading partner?
While there is much dust yet to settle on this, the key takeaway at this point is that AUKUS provides strong indication that a post-Afghanistan US and a post-Brexit UK are doubling down on their focus on the Indo Pacific, a strategic move foreshowed by Dr Wayne Mapp in his pre-AUKUS penned article in this issue of Line of Defence.
We’re also joined in this issue by Editor-at-large Dr Peter Greener, who writes that the need to replace half of the RNZN’s fleet by the mid 2030s presents a rare opportunity to move away from simply considering like for like replacements. The jury’s still out on whether or not the aforementioned AUKUS arrangement might change the decision calculus over such things as frigate replacement, but in the meantime there’s some serious analysis that needs to be had in relation to our future maritime needs.
We are particularly honoured to be joined in this issue by Defence Secretary Andrew Bridgman, who sat down with me to discuss the upcoming Defence Assessment, Defence Capability Plan review, international engagement, the Ministry’s key priorities in 2021/22.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. This is a particularly ‘packed’ edition of Line of Defence with opinion and analysis from a range of exceptional authors and interviewees, including:
- Hon Dr Wayne Mapp QSO, former Minister of Defence
- Chris Penk MP, Member of Parliament
- Andrew Bridgman, Secretary of Defence
- Sir Ken McKenzie KH, Crowded Places Security Advisory Group
- RADM (Ret’d) Clint Thomas AM CSC, Serco Defence
- Clinton Williams, Serco Defence
- Lewis Holden, Tabella
- Assoc Prof Jeremy Moses, University of Canterbury
- Dr Peter Greener, Editor-at-large, Line of Defence
- Dr Geoffrey Ford, University of Canterbury
- Dr John Battersby, Massey University
- Dr Rhys Ball, Massey University
- Dr Sian Troath, University of Canterbury
- Ian Harman, New Zealand Defence Industry Association
- Nicholas Borroz, Rotoiti Consulting
- Jennie Vickers, Fortinet
- Nicholas Dynon, Chief editor, Line of Defence
I hope you enjoy the read!
Nicholas Dynon, Auckland.
