Bob Carr says he will sue New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters over the comments.Credit:SMH
The fracas was triggered by remarks in which Carr colourfully criticised the AUKUS pact during a visit to New Zealand last month,describing the technology-sharing element of the partnership as “fragrant,methane-wrapped bullshit”.
“Why do I call it bullshit? Because it’s been cobbled together to make it look like there’s more to AUKUS than subs – there isn’t.”
An increasingly partisan debate has erupted in New Zealand about whether the country should seek to join pillar II of the AUKUS pact,which offers collaboration on advanced technologies such as hypersonic weapons,artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
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In a fiery radio interview on Thursday,Peters,who serves as New Zealand’s foreign minister,lashed out at Carr,describing him as “nothing more than a Chinese puppet”.
“What on earth does he think he’s doing walking into our country and telling us what to do?” Peters told Radio New Zealand. “We would no more do that in Australia than he should do here. That’s the kind of arrogance we don’t like.”
Other comments in which Peters stridently criticised Carr for his views on China have since been removed from the radio station’s website because of their legal risk.