New Zealand could join AUKUS security pact to boost cyber technologies
New Zealand has opened the door to joining the AUKUS defence pact with Australia, Britain and the United States while maintaining its ban on nuclear-powered submarines.

The country’s top diplomat in Canberra said her nation could join the agreement to collaborate on the development of emerging cyber technologies including artificial intelligence quantum computing.
New Zealand’s high commissioner to Australia, Dame Annette King, said AUKUS in no way changed the security and intelligence ties her country had with Australia, the US and Britain.

While New Zealand would never be involved in the development of nuclear-powered submarines, Dame Annette said it welcomed the US and Britain’s increased engagement in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We have reiterated our collective objective to deliver peace and stability in our region and the preservation of an international rules-based system,” she told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in a wide-ranging interview ahead of her country hosting the APEC summit’s leaders’ meeting next month.
Britain’s departing Chief of the Defence Staff, Nicholas Carter, last week suggested the trilateral security pact could be expanded to include other allies such as Japan, New Zealand and Canada.

Asked whether New Zealand would like to join AUKUS to collaborate on other technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, she said: “It’s been made clear to us that other countries are going to be welcome to be involved in other parts of the architecture”.

“And cyber is one area that we’d certainly be interested in, but there’s no detail yet – so we will be looking for detail.”

When the AUKUS agreement was announced last month, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed that any nuclear-powered submarines Australia acquired under the initiative would not be allowed into her country’s territorial waters.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/fede...25-p592tr.html

I'm actually quite surprised that NZ wants its hand in this too of course excluding any nuclear vessels in their ports. I'd have figured Canada more likely would join than NZ as New Zealand had worked hard to not be too aligned with the US.

Of course these seems more limited to the cyber and intel side which already has a lot of cooperation under 5 Eyes. Either way, interesting development.