Foreign Min Shoots Down Blinken Talk Of 'Open Door' To AUKUS

Speaking on a visit to New Zealand, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said on 27 July that the 'door is open' for the Pacific nation to join the AUKUS military alliance alongside the Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. However, Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta seemingly shot down the prospect, stating that “I'll be really clear, we're not contemplating joining AUKUS—it would clash with our nuclear-free laws and nuclear-free Pacific policy. It's a club we'd have to sell our soul to join.”

• While New Zealand is a close ally of the US and its partners, the country has extensive trade links with China and is seemingly reluctant to draw the potential ire of Beijing that in previous years saw restrictions placed on Australian exports in response to a more hard-line pro-US stance from Canberra.
• New Zealand holds its general election in October. Opinion polling shows the incumbent centre-left Labour Party of PM Chris Hipkins and the centre-right Nationals almost neck-and-neck with a hung parliament a strong likelihood. A shift rightwards in gov't could see Wellington shift further towards AUKUS, but it remains unlikely that the country will give up its long-standing anti-nuclear stance under any colour of gov't.