Warship, weapons conference not welcome, activists say

August 9, 2016

Warship, weapons conference not welcome, activists say

Jordan Kell, 20, from Tauranga was one of the people to sign the petition against a weapons conference and warship visit in New Zealand. Photo: Rasmus Walther Jensen

Weapons and warships, stay away from New Zealand. That was the message from Auckland Peace Action when it launched a petition on Saturday opposing the upcoming weapons conference and proposed US warship visit.

“We think that it is a signal around growing militarism, around growing support for war, and we do not want it. We are a peaceful country, and that is what we need to be promoting,” said Auckland Peace Action member and veteran activist Valerie Morse.

Around 50 people gathered at The Peace Place in Auckland CBD for the launch of the petition, which many signed. One of them was Jordan Kell, 20, from Tauranga.

“It is just a way to say: ‘This is not, what we want. This is not who New Zealand is. This is not what we stand for’,” Mr Kell said, putting his signature on the paper.

One of the activist group’s biggest issues is the proposed US warship visit in November as part of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s 75th birthday. It will be the first US military vessel to arrive in New Zealand waters since anti-nuclear legislation was passed in 1987.

The weapons conference will be held at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland CBD on November 16 to 17 in conjunction with the navy’s anniversary.

Asked if the warship visit foreshadowed closer military ties with US, Prime Minister John Key told the New Zealand Herald on July 21: "If the question is will there be step back into ANZUS, then the answer is no. We run an independent foreign policy. We are happy with the defence tie-up we have with the United States and others."

Ms Morse disagrees. “The US has been waging illegal war, the greatest of war crimes, planning and conducting an illegal war, resulting in the murder of a million people in Iraq. This is not some country we should be having any friendly military relationships with,” she said.

A woman presenting

Auckland Peace Action member Valerie Morse, who spoke at the petition launch, says New Zealand’s military relationship with US is getting closer. Photo: Rasmus Walther Jensen

According to Robert Ayson, professor of strategic studies at Victoria University, the security relationship between New Zealand and the US has been growing for the last 10 years, accelerating during Mr Key’s tenure.

Professor Ayson said the US warship visit confirmed how close the relationship had become.

”The original problem in the relationship was about an American vessel in the 1980s, so there is nothing more symbolic to show how close we have come than an American naval vessel visiting a New Zealand port,” he said.

Auckland Peace Action will present the petition to Parliament in November.

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