If you want to be in a team, you should be a team player.

Hahaha… yeah like when a Japanese company put up some money and New Zealand and Australia got together and held the first Rugby World Cup but the second time around when we were supposed to hold it together Australia decided to hold it themselves… aided by the IRB which has taken over the competition they said wouldn’t work.

Or perhaps the nice new free trade agreement the Aussies have with the US that Australian ministers have stated they will make sure New Zealand companies with head offices in Australia can’t get involved in…

We are more Neighbours than Brothers. If anyone actually threatened to invade Australia New Zealand would help, without being asked and without any formal treaty to say so, and the reverse is true to, but like a big brother little brother relationship we may never get along on the little things and shouldn’t be planning to live together… it isn’t natural.

If you want to be in a team, you should be a team player.

If you are suggesting we don’t pull our weight regarding defence then you obviously know little about what is happening down here. At any time in the year we generally have more than 30% of our army overseas clearing landmines or keeping the peace in some country where life is no where near as good as it is here. Sure we dumped our fighter jets and our trainer jets but would really like to hear from you what difference a dozen Skyhawks would do? Being 2,500km from Australia the only armed force capable of getting here would be the USN and I doubt a dozen Skyhawks had them worried. New Zealand is a long narrow country so if you think they could patrol our skies and keep us safe from OBLs terrorist highjackers the juiciest target in NZ is probably the hydro electric Dams in Central Otago… during their farewell displays the Skyhawks didn’t come further south than Christchurch… because Dunedin and Invercargil were “too far”. Even if we had Mig-25s they still wouldn’t make it on time unless they were kept on constant alert.