Pacta sunt servanda
Yes, well said former minister for foreign affairs. However the mention of ANZUS does raise an historical question. Since when has NZ been put back into that post-WWII agreement? If they are back, why haven’t we been told? It was the ridiculous cooperative action of the Australian and US Governments to kick New Zealand out of ANZUS on the spurious flapdoodle that David Lange’s Government had violated the agreement.
No, and in fact New Zealand’s ban of nuclear ship in response to the clear wish of the New Zealand electorate, actually anticipated the end of the Cold War. It’d be nice to know what Mikhail Gorbachev thought. Australia and New Zealand ought now to cooperate in due regard for their joint signing of the Treaty of Rarotonga. Or are we to conclude that pacta sunt servanda has nothing to do with our military and Commonwealth’s defence? We need to find the path of boldly affirming our South West Pacific identity in this locale of the globe. And Mabo 1991 did tell us that we are within Melanesia, not just alongside! The ideology of “guaranteed security” has certainly increased national insecurity all around the globe.
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