We can't escape the fact Nanaia Mahuta is a disaster when it comes to Foreign Affairs, writes John MacDonald. Photo / Mark Mitchell
OPINION:
I was stunned when I saw someone who keeps a close eye on China saying that New Zealand needs to think about upping our defence spending to protect us from the superpower.
It's 2022 and we're being told that we need to get serious about what we're seeing from China in the Pacific at the moment and up the defences here at home with drones and anti-ship missiles.
The person who made these comments is Rodney Jones, who is a China analyst with an outfit called Wigram Capital Advisors. He spoke on TVNZ's Q&A show yesterday morning and his comments were on the six o'clock news last night.
He was speaking about China's Foreign Minister flying around the Pacific drumming up what's being described as "greater collaboration" with countries in the Pacific.
Before the delegation from China flew in, they already had a deal signed-up with the Solomon Islands. But, over the weekend, we found out that Samoa has signed-up too. Nuie is looking like the next one to sign.
The details are pretty hush hush but we know from a draft document leaked last week that China wants economic and security arrangements with these countries.
And, as we've seen so far, if there's money on the table these countries are going to sign the dotted line.
So Rodney Jones thinks New Zealand needs to accept that it's been gazumped by China on the diplomatic front and we need to get ourselves prepared for defending ourselves against China. Incredible stuff.
He says China's been building up to this for the past five years and New Zealand needs to better protect itself and he reckons we're not going to be able to do it with words.
He says China's motivation is "raw power". And we need to fortify our independent foreign policy and increase our defence spending and buy things like drones and anti-ship missiles.
Remember Australia has signed up to a deal with the UK and the US to buy nuclear-powered submarines. Rodney Jones isn't saying we need to do anything like that but he is saying that we need to spend more on defence so that China gets the message not to even think about pushing us around.
Which is a pretty astounding thing to say, isn't it?
Now I don't think Rodney Jones would be saying this sort of thing if we didn't have the absolutely hopeless foreign affairs leadership we have at the moment in this country.
I think Nanaia Mahuta is the worst Foreign Affairs Minister New Zealand has ever had. Especially when you think about some of the people who have done the job previously. Here are some names for you: Norman Kirk, David Lange, Mike Moore, Phil Goff, Don McKinnon, Gerry Brownlee and Winston Peters.
But even without comparing the current minister to her predecessors, I think on her own Nanaia Mahuta is showing herself to be completely useless.
Can you believe that she has had absolutely nothing to say about China flying around the Pacific these last few days? There have been interview requests - but total silence.
Can you imagine Don McKinnon saying nothing? Can you imagine Gerry Brownlee saying nothing? Can you imagine Winston Peters saying nothing? Of course not.
And what about the Associate Foreign Minister, Aupito William Sio? Well he's not hiding completely, he did put out a media release yesterday. Was it about China in the Pacific?
No, he was making a statement about it being Samoan Language Week this week. To be fair, he is the Minister for Pacific Peoples. But he is also Associate Foreign Affairs Minister and, just like Nanaia Mahuta, he is saying absolutely nothing about what China is up to in the Pacific.
What's more - he is originally from Samoa and you would assume that he is the associate foreign minister because of his connections in the Pacific. Well, if that's the case, it's all token because his birth country has signed-up to China's offer of "greater collaboration".
It is an embarrassment and the fact we have someone telling us that we need to start preparing to defend ourselves against China with drones and anti-ship missiles, speaks volumes about the shambles our foreign affairs leadership is in.
I'm not in favour of spending more on defence, as Rodney Jones is suggesting, because we just don't have the money. And there are so many other things desperately needing greater investment. Health for a start.
But we can't escape the fact Nanaia Mahuta is a disaster when it comes to Foreign Affairs. And her Associate Minister is just as much of a disaster. And they need to be replaced.
So forget about buying drones and anti-ship missiles. And just get someone running Foreign Affairs who is going to get on a plane - just like Australia's Foreign Minister has done - and give the Pacific countries a reason not to fall for China's sweet-talking.