Ryan Bridge: Former PMs need to stay away from current political debate

I'm not a huge fan of former PMs sticking their oar into the water of current political debates. 

Not only are their thoughts rooted in briefings given by officials long ago, but when attacking a sitting Prime Minister, they tend to sound a bit whingy and out-of-touch. 

This is the case of Helen Clark and Don Brash, who've issued a statement condemning Christopher Luxon for comments he made to the Financial Times on the sidelines of NATO in Washington D.C.. 

Luxon said a few things:

1. We need to call out China more for spying.

2. He's hoping to sign a deal that would see NZ able to deploy military assets to the Philippines, which has long running and regular disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

3. He's keen on our military joining the U.S. and Australia in conducting joint military exercises inside the Philippines' exclusive economic zone.

4. He spoke about NZ being a "force multiplier" for Australia, the U.S., and other partners.

Clark and Brash are tut-tutting this, which comes off the back of the AUKUS debate, and wades into another long-running one - the $38-billion debate. 

That's what two-way trade between China and New Zealand is worth, remember it was Clark and then Foreign Minister Phil Goff who signed the FTA that got us there. 

They reckon this tough talk and cosying-up to the US is undermining our "independent foreign policy" and could lead to us being punished by China at the port. 

China's no bigger a spy-threat to us than other countries, they reckon. 

Here's the thing though, Luxon hasn't actually changed much in the way of foreign policy yet. Plus, the full Financial Times article also quotes him saying we're pursuing a balanced strategy with China on trade, renewable energy and people-to-people ties. 

What's more, the current PM is getting more up to date briefings on China's cyber threat than Clark or Brash... 

And when it comes down to it, most of us would agree we'd side with America and Australia if war returned to the Pacific theatre, wouldn't we? 

Isn't Luxon just laying out what's realistically bound to happen? 

In saying all of that, Australia learnt the hard way what poking the bear can do to your exports, so it's an area we should tread carefully, but perhaps some are now better placed than others to walk that tight rope. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm not a huge fan of former pms sticking their
ore into the water of current political debates. Not only
are their thoughts they tend to be rooted in briefings
that were given by officials years ago, back in their heyday,
but when attacking a sitting prime minister, they also tend
to sound a bit wingy and out of touch. This
is the case of Helen Clark and Don Brash, who

(00:21):
issued a statement condemning Chris Luxen for comments he made
to The Financial Times at NATO. Luxon said a couple
of things, and I'll run you through it. One, we
need to call out China more for spying. Two he
wants to sign a deal that would see US able
to deploy military assets to the Philippines. And you'll know
the Philippines has long running and regular disputes with Beijing

(00:42):
in the South China Sea. Three he's keen on our
military joining the US and Australia and conducting joint military
exercises inside the Philippines. Easy four he spoke about New
Zealand being a quote force multiplier for Australia, the US
and other partners. Now Clark and Brash are touching this,

(01:05):
which comes off the back of the Orchest debate and
wades into another long running one, and this is the
thirty eight billion dollar debate. That's what two way trade
between China and New Zealand is worth. Remember it was
Clark and then Foreign Minister Phil Goff who signed the
FTA that got us there. And they reckon that this
tough talk from Luxen, this so called cozying up to

(01:26):
the US, is undermining our independent foreign policy, whatever that
means now, and could lead to us being punished by
China at the port. China, they reckon, is no bigger
Aspire threat to US than other countries. Here's the thing, though,
Luxin hasn't actually changed much in the way of foreign
policy yet. Plus the full Financial Times article also quotes

(01:47):
him saying we're pursuing a balanced strategy with China on trade,
renewable energy and people to people ties. What's more, the
current PM is getting more up to date briefings on
China's cyber threat than Clark or Brash. And when it
comes down to it, most of us would agree that
we'd side with America and Australia ESL if war returned

(02:09):
to the Pacific theater wouldn't we isn't luxon just laying
out and saying what's realistically bound to happen, and saying
all of that Australia the hard way that poking the
bear and what it can do to your exports. So
it's an area in which we should tread carefully, but
perhaps some are now better placed than others to walk

(02:31):
that tightrope. For more from News Talks' b listen live
on air or online, and keep our shows with you
wherever you go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio