Penk again insistent on Govt's nuclear-free NZ stance

There remains no prospect of Aotearoa changing its nuclear-free policy, Defence Minister Chris Penk says, shutting down questions about whether nuclear-powered vessels could ever be allowed into New Zealand waters. The minister, who has returned from the NATO summit in Türkiye, told Q+A this morning that a hypothetical visit by nuclear-powered vessels was "not necessary to go there". "There's no prospect that we're changing our nuclear-free policy," he said. The questions followed <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/05/31/discussion-on-nzs-anti-nuclear-stance-could-be-helpful-penk/" target="_blank">controversy over Penk's comments</a> at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in May, when he said it "would be helpful, I think, for us to have that conversation in New Zealand" - referring to Australia, New Zealand's only formal ally, acquiring nuclear-powered submarines under AUKUS. At the time, the remarks drew a clarification from the Prime Minister. Asked if those remarks were a mistake, Penk said they had been taken out of context.