Press release – Cancel the RIMPAC Coalition
Against the backdrop of Jacinda Ardern’s recent trip to Washington DC, cementing further military cooperation with the United States, Indigenous and peace groups are demanding that the NZDF completely withdraw from any involvement with future US Marines…
Amid Jacinda Ardern’s recent trip to Washington D.C., enhancing military cooperation with the United States, Indigenous and peace groups are demanding that the NZDF withdraw completely from participation in the upcoming US Navy live combat training “Rim of the Pacific” (RIMPAC) during July-August 2022 with the launch of a new campaign.
RIMPAC is a maritime warfare exercise based in Hawai’i and surrounding areas used to demonstrate American dominance and control of the Pacific Ocean. This happens every two years. It includes more than 20 other nations, 25,000 soldiers and thousands of weapons.
The NZDF is sending 78 troops from HMNZS Matataua and the Army’s 16th Field Regiment as well as the Navy ship HMNZS Aotearoa.
“RIMPAC claims to promote security while perpetuating evil, destruction and violence. These military war games are an assault on the Kānaka Maoli and other Pacific peoples whose lands and waters have long been used as areas of sacrifice and whose lives have been rejected and ignored. New Zealand has an opportunity to set a new standard by withdrawing from RIMPAC. This would mean prioritizing care, environmental protection and the right of Pacific and Indigenous peoples to self-determination,” said Cancel RIMPAC Coalition member Dr. Emalani Case.
Marco de Jong, a member of the Coalition, adds: “The rush for superpower influence is jeopardizing peace in the Pacific. Polarizing rhetoric, reactionary diplomacy and war games only escalate. New Zealand must maintain a principled distance and contribute to the alternative vision of security of other Pacific nations. This is centered on climate response and socio-economic resilience as outlined in Boe’s and Biketawa’s statements. We must help rebuild Pacific regionalism lest the superpowers divide and conquer to the detriment of all.
“An independent, indigenous foreign policy in the service of Pacific regionalism is powerful. Remember that New Zealand draws its international influence from its place and its influence in the Pacific. Playing American lapdog is tantamount to an overbearing apologist and jeopardizes New Zealand interests. By contributing to the rebuilding of Pacific regionalism – in a way that is consistent with regional priorities, our Pacific identity and Te Tiriti o Waitangi – we have our last and best chance to fulfill our diplomatic potential as Aotearoa.
During RIMPAC, deadly weapons are used on land and sea, causing massive environmental destruction to the Hawaiian Islands and the Pacific Ocean. Live-fire training involves shelling islands; using bombs and missiles to sink ships, leaving munitions, debris and wreckage in the sea; and detonate underwater explosives. The US Navy is exempt from the Marine Mammal Protection Act, meaning it can test underwater sonar that kills and injures whales, dolphins and other species. The US military is also the biggest user of fossil fuels in the world and exercises like this have a massive carbon footprint.
“New Zealand now has the opportunity to exercise an independent foreign policy and to be a Pacific partner and a model for other countries by choosing not to participate in 2022. In 1982, New Zealand withdrawn from RIMPAC activities. We can do it again,” Mr. de Jong said.
The Cancel RIMPAC coalition includes UIP: Pacific Indigenous Insurgency, Te Kuaka – NZ Alternative, Peace Movement Aotearoa, Peace Action Wellington, Auckland Peace Action, Aotearoa Philippines Solidarity and social justice activists.
More than 1,700 New Zealanders have already signed a petition over the past two years asking the government not to send troops this year or in the future to this large-scale military exercise.
Background from our spokespersons:
Dr. Emalani Case is a writer, teacher, and aloha āina deeply engaged in issues of Indigenous rights and representation, colonialism and decolonization, and environmental and social justice. She is the author of All that was old was once new: Native Hawaiian persistence in Kahiki (2021) She is from Waimea Hawaii.
Marco de Jong is a New Zealand Samoan and Pacific historian. He is completing a PhD at Oxford University on the history of the environmental movement in the Pacific with a particular focus on anti-nuclearism and climate change.
Tāwhana Chadwick (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) is a member of IPU: Indigenous Pacific Uprising, from Heretaunga living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. Tāwhana is a captain of waka hourua (double-hulled sailing canoes) with around 50,000 nautical miles of blue water experience. His passion is revitalizing the knowledge of waka and justice for Te Moananui-a-Kiwa (including the people and creatures within).
Other resources for journalists
The petition can be found here
Recent OIAs relating to NZDF’s RIMPAC can be found here and here
Content sourced from scoop.co.nz
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