07 August 2024

“The decision by the New Zealand government to sign onto the US plan to ramp up weapons production in the Pacific is a dangerous move towards war. It is clear that NZ intends to join a US war against China,” said Valerie Morse, spokesperson for Peace Action Wellington.

“The US document, the Statement of Principles for Indo-Pacific Defense Industrial Base Collaboration (1), outlines a drive for a massive build up of weaponry in our region. The US wants a war with China because it sees it as a rival that must defeated. The US is encircling China with military bases and weapons, searching for a pretext for war, all while claiming the Pacific region is 'unstable'. It is the US military that is provoking a conflict.”

“The new NZ Minerals Strategy (2) also appears to be part of this US military plan. The Strategy identifies antinomy as a key strategic mineral to be developed, saying 'Currently 80% of the worlds supply of antimony comes from China and Russia, and international partners are seeking to diversify supply networks to ensure resilient global supply chains into the future.'”

Antimony is a strategic critical mineral that is used in all manner of military applications, including the manufacture of armor piercing bullets, night vision goggles, infrared sensors, precision optics, laser sighting, explosive formulations, hardened lead for bullets and shrapnel, ammunition primers, tracer ammunition, nuclear weapons and production, tritium production, flares, military clothing, and communication equipment. It is the key element in the creation of tungsten steel and the hardening of lead bullets, two of its most crucial applications during WWII. (3)

“It is not in New Zealand's interest to go to war with China. It is not something we should have anything to do with. We also need to be very skeptical about claims that mining our environment is necessary for our economic well-being. It is not – it is an industry that creates enormous ecological damage in order to provide raw materials for weapons.”

“Instead of working towards disarmament and peace-building efforts, the NZ National Party appears to have thrown New Zealand's foreign policy into the hands of the US government to tell us what to do. It also appears to see the natural environment as largely for the needs of the US military.”

“Mr Luxon ought to heed the words of US president Dwight D Eisenhower who said:

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

We deserve a government that believes Aotearoa NZ to be more than a mine for US military needs and cannon fodder for its wars.”

1. Statement of Principles for Indo-Pacific Defense Industrial Base Collaboration
https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3793618/endorsing-a-statement-of-principles-for-indo-pacific-defense-industrial-base-co/

2. NZ Minerals Strategy (see page 5 for the quoted reference)
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/dmsdocument/28387-a-draft-minerals-strategy-for-new-zealand-to-2040

3. Antimony: The Most Important Mineral You Never Heard Of
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidblackmon/2021/05/06/antimony-the-most-important-mineral-you-never-heard-of/

© Scoop Media