Nanaia Mahuta confirms ‘unwelcome and unnecessary’ deal came as a surprise to New Zealand and Australia, saying the Solomons must provide transparency
Speaking on Monday, Nanaia Mahuta told the Guardian that New Zealand’s first knowledge of the deal was when a draft was leaked online at the end of March, reinforcing statements from the defence minister, Peeni Henare, that it had caught Australia and New Zealand off-guard.
However, Australian politicians have been circumspect about whether the draft deal came as a surprise. Australia’s foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, and the Pacific minister, Zed Seselja, both confirmed they did not know of the deal until it was leaked online at the end of March, but the prime minister, Scott Morrison, has refused to answer questions about what he knew, or when.
Mahuta added that was “very much a New Zealand-centric view of where the relationship breakdown has occurred … I don’t want to conflate New Zealand’s position with Australia’s – we stand on our own two feet in relation to the way in which we work with our Pacific neighbours.”being built in the Solomons – and in the wider Pacific that the region could become a chessboard for geopolitical powers., and the US said it would “take action” in response to any base being built.
Mahuta tacitly acknowledged those concerns, saying New Zealand’s previous assistance during periods of unrest had been designed to assist the population broadly, rather than to benefit political elites.“New Zealand … when we respond to issues of unrest, like in the Solomons, our response is for all people in the Solomons, not just some people. So, again, it was a curious set of arrangements from our perspective,” she said.
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