A part of the blame for the destruction of East Timor can be laid at the doors of successive New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers. Surely, one conclusion we have to draw from recent events, including Mahathir s recent attack on Australia and New Zealand, is that the Five Power Defence Arrangement is no longer a valid arrangement. Virtually the only use we ve made of our frigates and Skyhawks has been in exercises with Australia, Indonesia, Singapore or Malaysia. What East Timor and Bougainville have shown us is that we need an efficient and well-equipped peacekeeping forces, with helicopter and air transport backup. South Korea is unlikely to invade North Korea, and North Korea has a very weak economy.
China is much constrained by international political and economic pressures.
Rather than keeping up with the big Asian powers in wasting money on armaments, the Greens say New Zealand should lead the way in conventional disarmament, as it has in nuclear disarmament. For the latter we propose to buy two multipurpose long range patrol boats. We simply don t need to buy our way into anyone s good books, be it the US, Britain, Australia or any Asian nation, by purchasing unnecessary military hardware. But we don t need formal treaty relationships with these countries. Australia s defence treaty with Indonesia shows just how utterly wrong Australia s defence strategy can be.