Defence down under

Anyoldhow I’m still going to tackle a difficult issue, being DEFENCE and how the Aussies have got it wrong, as have those commentators who think that NZ has the same terrorist profile as Australia.
Like most NZ governments this one has done plenty locally to annoy the average punter from tax rate rises to foreshore squabbles and so on, but you’ve got to admit that Helen and the team got it right with regard to Iraq.
The decision to invade Iraq on the basis of trumped up evidence will be seen in the future as the dumbest thing that USA has done in the last 50 years. It won’t look that good in the UK either but they are smart enough to distance themselves from it, but not the Aussies.
At the drop of a hat Australian foreign minister Downer reminds NZ that in his opinion we are not spending enough on defence, as if a further percentage point of GDP would make some difference. He seems quite unaware that unlike Australia we don’t have nearly 200 million angry Muslims a short boat ride away, nor have we invaded any Muslim countries recently without UN mandates to do so.
He even made this claim during his last visit here that was supposed to influence our government to unbundle the local telephone loop to help the Australian government owned Telstra Clear penetrate our market. Not surprisingly the local loop remains unbundled.
Various Australian leaders have affirmed that the USA underpins Australian defence policy and blithely expect American troops to drop in to sort out any problems that may arrive. Well that assumes that these expected problems will not occur at the same time that American forces are busy with their own problems at home. It’s a fair bet that any terrorist threat big enough to worry Australia will be hyperactive in USA at the same time.
In May this year I spent a week in Washington DC being addressed by various experts on USA global international policy. I listened carefully all week long for mention of this part of the world. New Zealand warranted one mention during a debate on guns and butter diplomacy. Australia to my amazement, and to the horror of any of their leaders who might find out, never got a mention once in the whole week. To put this in perspective Israel was constantly on the lips of the locals, followed by such allies as Pakistan, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The European Economic Community and China obviously took up several sessions but for all the blind obedience of Australia they got no mention at all by our hosts.
What has the USA gained from the Iraqi invasion? Hard to know especially when it was never explained what it was they wanted. Better oil access and better relations with the Middle East? Oil just hit $50 a barrel and even the most ardent US supporters of freedom and elections are unwilling to holiday in Iraq to check on progress.
What about Australia? Well they are certainly better known now in the Middle East and in Muslim parts of the world. Are we? I checked this with Muslims from places such as Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt and even Senegal. Most knew very little about New Zealand but all felt quite good about us. They seem to share a bond with us as unimportant countries themselves, also ignored by their much larger and more important neighbours.
At the time of writing it is unknown who has won the Australian election and that will make a difference. Last election, Howard’s ability to turn back a boatload of refugees was a winning formula, but what if a hundred boats come, followed next day by two hundred and so on. World opinion won’t allow them all to be shot or imprisoned. How do you deal with this? It’s not all that unlikely as any traveller to Indonesia will affirm. There are thousands of boats and millions of people jammed into that country and they know how empty Australia is and another percentage point spent on defence won’t help.
What will help is a bit of diplomacy and avoiding confrontation unless the UN mandates it. Thanks Helen.
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Interesting that Russia has affirmed the Kyoto accord the week after my column on global warming. And to the barristers who pointed out that they no longer dress fancily for court, did you see them dressed as penguins in paradise on Pitcairn?