Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark is calling for greater transparency about negotiations with the United States over critical minerals access, RNZ reports.
The criticism highlights concerns that the coalition government may be cutting deals that affect NZ sovereignty without proper public scrutiny.
This is the Pacific great power competition story that mainstream media keeps missing. The US wants access to rare earth minerals, New Zealand has them, and the government is negotiating behind closed doors. Former Prime Ministers don't speak out unless something is seriously wrong.
Clark, now chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, warned that Donald Trump's recent threats of tariffs against countries that don't sign critical mineral agreements within 180 days raises serious questions.
"We're told that it will be a non-binding critical minerals framework," Clark said, "but as recently as the 14th of January, President Trump was threatening tariffs if trading partners didn't sign critical mineral agreements within 180 days."
The environmental stakes are enormous. Clark pointed out that mining these minerals would require damaging pristine landscapes currently protected for conservation. "Do we just want to throw all the concerns we've traditionally had for our national parks and wild places out the window?" she asked.
There's also the question of trade agreements. Preferencing the US for mineral exports could violate New Zealand's Free Trade Agreements, which require non-discriminatory treatment of trading partners.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has confirmed talks are underway with the US and more than 40 other countries, but dismissed reporting as "speculative and hypothetical," stating no Cabinet decisions have been made.
But that's precisely the problem. If significant negotiations are happening about NZ's natural resources and potential trade commitments, the public has a right to know what's on the table before decisions are locked in.
This fits into the broader pattern of US-China competition playing out across the Pacific. Washington is scrambling to secure alternative sources of critical minerals currently dominated by China. Pacific nations are being courted by both powers.
New Zealand values its independent foreign policy and carefully balanced relationships with both the US and China. Secret mineral deals that preference Washington could compromise that balance.
Mate, there's a whole region of Pacific islands that matter, and right now great powers are fighting over the minerals beneath our feet. Kiwis deserve transparency about what their government is agreeing to.
