Clive Bibby: There is a price for sovereignty - and we don’t have much left to spend

Previous governments of all colours have from time to time waxed lyrical about the importance of maintaining independent foreign policies in the modern world.

No longer are we so tied to the UK for our very survival that there was no need to be thinking about alternative trading partners - she took everything we could produce and paid us handsomely for the privilege.

When the UK entered the European Common Market, everything changed and we were forced to grow up in a matter of months after Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Jack Marshall salvaged what he could from the markets we still had access to.

Almost immediately, we learned international trading skills that we previously had no use for.

For the next decade or two, the focus of our trade delegations was “laser-like” trying to make up for lost time.

Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade became the most important single Government agency. We all owe the trade ambassadors who established new markets for our produce a debt of gratitude for their excellent work on our behalf.

Fast forward to today and we find ourselves competing profitably on international markets keen to by our superior products. In some cases, we have become the beneficiary of supply shortages with two of our major trading partners - particularly beef in the US and virtually all animal products (those derived from red meat and dairy milk) in China. Currently farmers are receiving record prices on multiple markets for just about all of the products we grow or produce.

However access to markets is not solely dependent on the type of products we sell.

In the modern world, there is this little matter of being part of longstanding trading alliances built on shared ideology and defence partnerships that go way back to WW1 in 1914.

And despite the fact that numerous “left wing” NZ governments have attempted to build an independent foreign policy, sooner or later we are forced to accept our future prosperity will be closely aligned with power blocks led by either the US or China.

It has almost become the case where if one or the other says “Jump”, other less important members of each (West or East) block responds by asking “How High? “

While the humour associated with this apparent sycophantic response may amuse some, the reality of what it means for countries like us who survive on the scraps after the big boys have carved up the world to their own satisfaction should concern us all.

Because the new world order is not just based on military strength alone. There is a price to be paid even to be part of a defence umbrella that protects our trading routes against those who would like to control our exports.

Unfortunately, the price for our Sovereignty is something we no longer control, and given our geographic position way down at the bottom of the South Pacific, we are strategically of little importance to either of the big boys as well.

So it would seem common sense, for the sake of the nation that all those activist members of culturally sensitive or ideological pressure groups pull their heads in when demonstrating against the evils of Uncle Sam and the Trump administration.

We do have choices to make that will influence the direction and quality of our future. I suppose we can think ourselves lucky in that context because most of the world’s population have none at all. They are merely numbers on a chess board.

But the choices and decisions we do make need to be based on a realisation that a belligerent foreign policy which involves supporting every extremist group that happens to be flavour of the month is unaffordable. and could cost us what is left of our sovereignty.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.