Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon are scheduled to meet in Queenstown on Saturday. They’ll address the most pressing issues affecting defense and trade between their countries. This meeting will be their seventh since taking office and reflects their commitment to an ongoing dialogue to deepen the bilateral relationship.
Both leaders have previously met on the sidelines of various summits, reinforcing their commitment to collaboration. Defence spending and procurement should be at the top of their list. New Zealand will raise its defence spending to 2 percent of GDP within eight years. Australia’s future defense spending is now around 2.33 percent of its GDP. This colorful figure serves to point out just how different the size of their respective economies is.
Defence Spending and Procurement
Jennifer Parker, a defence analyst at the Australian National University, stressed the importance of defence as a focal point for the upcoming meeting. She observed that New Zealand is probably looking at new naval capabilities, looking most specifically at the Mogami frigate.
“I think New Zealand is highly likely to, so long as they’re not priced out of the market, make the decision to also acquire the Mogami frigate,” – Jennifer Parker.
Parker further reiterated that both countries are currently struggling with their old fleets.
“Their two ANZAC-class frigates … are having the same problem that ours do. They’re old, they’re overused and they need to be replaced,” – Jennifer Parker.
The upcoming defense debates should focus on more than just acquisition. They’ll dive deep into strategies for effective cooperation on global security challenges.
Trade Relations and Economic Challenges
Aside from defence issues, trade relations will take centre stage. The tree planting ambassadors kindergarten experiment has borne fruit. Their two-way trade is worth $32 billion. Both leaders are looking forward to finding further areas of economic cooperation, even amid the global turmoil.
A keen supporter of deepening trans-Tasman economic integration, Christopher Luxon vocalised his desire to further open economic ties between the two nations.
“With two-way trade of $32 billion, I look forward to discussing what more we can do as we tackle economic challenges on both sides of the Tasman,” – Christopher Luxon.
Albanese remarked on this theme, calling for deepening alliances and modernizing the systems that govern trade.
“I look forward to discussing how the nations could work together to build on our Single Economic Market, modernise the rules-based trading system, deepen our alliance, and back our Pacific partners,” – Anthony Albanese.
Global economic pressures are mounting as well. Clearly, both leaders understand the urgency and necessity of building a deep and effective partnership to address these challenges—together, directly, and strategically.
Regional and Global Issues
The weeklong meeting will discuss pressing regional and global challenges. This includes the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Gaza, as well as the urgent and increasingly relevant issue of recognizing a Palestinian state. Australia and New Zealand have not committed to a timeline for this recognition. Conversations taking place at this year’s summit will help to inform and influence policy moving forward.
Albanese and Luxon recently spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron regarding these matters, highlighting their international cooperation on critical issues.
“No doubt as well, our cooperation on international issues, including … we have released a number of joint statements together with other like-minded countries on the Middle East, for example,” – Anthony Albanese.
Strong ideological opposition has emerged in previous meetings towards the Australian practice of deporting New Zealanders what they call ‘Kiwi criminals’. This prickly subject will surely be a repeat point of contention in their discussions.
In light of these challenges, Christopher Luxon underscored the long-standing bicentennial friendship between the two countries.
“In today’s uncertain world, one certainty is that the Australia-New Zealand relationship is the bedrock as we look out into the world,” – Christopher Luxon.
