The heads of defence for the UK, US and Australia met in London for the AUKUS Defence Minsiterial Meeting. Photo: AFP/ Henry Nicholls
An AUKUS forum has been in the country telling circuit-board manufacturers, heavy engineering firms and aerospace companies about the opportunities of taking part.
A ministerial briefing newly released by the government says the workshops last May came under the defence pact's 'Industry Trailblazer' programme.
Australia has been hailing how its role in AUKUS Pillar One in a matter of several months greased the way for another $30m in exports now that military trade barriers to the UK and the US have been lowered.
The forum is pushing opportunities in the likes of AI and quantum tech. Its chief executive went to Christchurch and Auckland.
The 15-page briefing dating from October 31, and released by the Defence Ministry on Thursday, showed New Zealand still in a hovering pattern over joining AUKUS Pillar Two, an agreement designed to promote advanced military tech development and trade.
"Officials are taking a deliberate approach to assessing the long-term policy, regional, bilateral, and economic implications," it said.
In an echo of briefings for the past two years, it told the Defence and Foreign Affairs ministers that officials had been informally "technological focal areas where New Zealand is best equipped to target initial participation in Pillar II".
"Areas of possible collaboration" is entirely blanked out, as is most of the rest of the briefing.
"Core issues" are blanked out.
Last September, Defence said it had not formally consulted industry.
The briefing also noted a poll last September that found twice as many New Zealanders who were surveyed supported the Government's exploratory talks, as opposed that - but that large numbers did not know what AUKUS was.
The Pentagon's Defence Innovation Board has said AUKUS was crucial to counter China's military build-up.
"Getting AUKUS right is an essential task not only as a key component of Indo-Pacific security, but as a signal that the DoD [Department of Defence] and United States writ large are committed to the values set forth in our guiding strategic documents," it said last year.
The US under Donald Trump has since pivoted still further towards Indopacific security and away from Europe.
Photo: AFP / Australian Defence Force
China made a show of force sending three warships into waters close to Sydney on Thursday.
The ministerial briefing repeated the oft-used line that the "objectives of Pillar II are consistent with New Zealand interests and have the potential to be supportive of our national security, defence, and foreign policy settings".
AUKUS promoted stability and buttressed "the international rules-based system".
This is the opposite of what China says.
It has warned New Zealand against joining - but any analysis of that is blanked out.
"AUKUS is far from a guaranteed success," the Pentagon innovation board said.
"Pillar I is still a long-term project requiring sustained commitment and industrial heft, while Pillar II is still nascent and has yet to attract committed funding lines and full buy-in from industry."
That was written before major moves were taken to reduce trade barriers the US erected decades ago to protect its military technology.
"These reforms are revolutionising our ability to trade and collaborate with our AUKUS partners," the Australian government said last week.
The briefing appears to cover the flipside for New Zealand - "the potential risks of non-participation ... including to our relationships with close partners, interoperability, access to important capabilities, ability to contribute credibly to regional defence and security, and economic impact (including supply chain access)".
But any conclusions are blanked out.
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