Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Andrew Dickens: NZ missed its chance with the Cook Islands

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Andrew Dickens: NZ missed its chance with the Cook Islands · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So this weekend has been spent watching the Chinese navy
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: use the Tasman Sea as a firing range. They've never
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: come this far south before, and of course everyone's going, why, well,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: why I see that. David Seymour's come out and said
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: nothing they did was illegal. Oh we know that, mister,
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: of course, not there in international waters. But why they've
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: never done that before? Why come down there one hundred
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: and fifty miles east of Sydney and down round about
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: the same level as Nelson, New Zealand and fire some missiles.
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Defense commentators call it a power projection. Excellent, sure, no problem.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Why do you have to project power around here? Why
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: do we have to divert air New Zealand and Quantus planes.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Australia believes the firing was purely to hype the fact
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: that we're here. It wasn't like they were testing their
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: missiles or anything. They were just saying, by the way, guys,
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: we're here. We can get down here anytime we like them.
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: We're ready to rock. Meanwhile, this happens at the same
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: time that the Cook Islands, of course have signed that
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: deal that we've been talking about. And then that deal
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: that includes wharf construction. And you read that and you
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: wonder how naive and stupid was Matt Brown for going
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: there at this time and actually signing up a deal
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  Speaker 1: that actually talks about wharf construction. I mean, of course,
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: new wharves are lovely until one day the Chinese navy
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: starts using them as a staging point to invade the Pacific.
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: And that's going to the worst case scenario. It's even
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: when they come and stay, just come and stop there
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: for a bit to refuel. You got a Chinese boat
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: and news Strawts asked Auckland is how they felt in
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  Speaker 1: the old days when the American submarines used to come
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  Speaker 1: here and just park up in their bay. You felt
• 1:37
  Speaker 1: like you were a target. Anyway, this is what the
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Cook Islands has committed to. So this all begs the
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: question why New Zealand never built a deep water base
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: on the island years ago. Why we did not build
• 1:50
  Speaker 1: a wharf. We built the international airport, which of course
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: is the island's lifeline, but that airport is also a
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: military base if it needs to be. Why didn't we
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: build a port, and why don't we have a New
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Zealand ship stationed over there? Semi permanently. This is the
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: This is the entry to the Pacific. The Cook Islands
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  Speaker 1: are a semi autonomous part of New Zealand and a
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  Speaker 1: fine place for us to put a base. It should
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: have been our forward base from the get go if
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: we were serious about defense, and have we ever been
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: serious about defense? So why didn't it happen? Same thing
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: everything else is falling apart. We don't like spending money, Well,
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: that is a false economy. Now China has stolen a
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  Speaker 1: march from right under our feet or should I say
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: our flippers. For more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 2:35
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• 2:39
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