Our long standing Anti Nuclear legislation is well known and well supported by the population of New Zealand. 

It's not that the PM decided "nah we will ban them" today, they are banned, since 1987, as is every other Nuclear Powered ship

https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1987/0086/latest/DLM115116.html

Entry into the internal waters of New Zealand by any ship whose propulsion is wholly or partly dependent on nuclear power is prohibited.

The very nature of a nuclear powered submarine is that you don’t know it’s there unless it wants you to know. It’s an abiding shame people don’t seem to know the difference between nuclear power (propulsion) and nuclear weapons.

Batman: learnt from overseas media we are not letting Aussie nuclear sub in

I would love a nuclear powered submarine to visit NZ I would be lining up to go see it, I also have no issue with nuclear power

Dingbatt: The very nature of a nuclear powered submarine is that you don’t know it’s there unless it wants you to know.

If Australia was dumb enough to enter our internal waters with a Nuclear Submarine in defiance of our law and get caught, the fall out, would be substantial.  We are talking about internal waters here, as secret as subs are, one cruising up the Waitemata might be noticed.

internal waters is important here, this is roughly speaking just our harbours, bays, direct coast line etc.  Not the territorial sea, just our internal waters are prohibited.  Subs and ships can transit through the territorial sea without falling foul of the Anti Nuclear legislation.

gzt: When did even a conventional submarine last visit NZ? Must have been a while.

sometime in the last 5 year if i recall correctly

1/ Australia don’t have any nuclear subs

2/ The announcement talks of an 18 month study period to find out what they actually want/have the capability to build

3/ in 2016 Oz signed a deal with France for some subs, the first wasn’t due to be finish being built in OZ till early 2030... 

4/ I can’t see building a nuke sub any quicker...

5/ that means we have a few years to talk about the sub (that Australia don’t have yet) being barred from our waters ...:)

Linux: I would love a nuclear powered submarine to visit NZ I would be lining up to go see it, I also have no issue with nuclear power

gzt:

Linux: I would love a nuclear powered submarine to visit NZ I would be lining up to go see it, I also have no issue with nuclear power

Everyone knows the difference. No doubt you would find the navy disposal Hanford nuclear storage site equally fascinating. I know I would:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site

Don't step in the glowing green puddles. You must be a US citizen over 18 to tour the facility. It might be easier to get closer to a nuclear weapon ; )

@gzt Myself and 2 other GZ members visited Chernobyl about 3 years ago and it was awesome!

Jase2985:

 

gzt: When did even a conventional submarine last visit NZ? Must have been a while.

 

sometime in the last 5 year if i recall correctly

 

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/317235/australian-submarine-surfaces-in-auckland-harbour

Have we ever let any nuclear subs in? I didn't think we did?

snnet:

 

Have we ever let any nuclear subs in? I didn't think we did?

 

The USS Pintado visited in 1978 and the USS Haddo in 1979

sleemanj:

 

Dingbatt: The very nature of a nuclear powered submarine is that you don’t know it’s there unless it wants you to know.

 

If Australia was dumb enough to enter our internal waters with a Nuclear Submarine in defiance of our law and get caught, the fall out, would be substantial.  We are talking about internal waters here, as secret as subs are, one cruising up the Waitemata might be noticed.

 

internal waters is important here, this is roughly speaking just our harbours, bays, direct coast line etc.  Not the territorial sea, just our internal waters are prohibited.  Subs and ships can transit through the territorial sea without falling foul of the Anti Nuclear legislation.

 

The two main purposes of a submarine are to covertly gather intelligence or to sneak up on their enemy and shoot them in the back.

Covid aside, when an Australian can catch a flight visa-free and wander around NZ collecting better intel than you are going to get from a submarine mast, then our trans-Tasman cousins are never going to sit in our harbours covertly. And incidentally, I made no comment on “submarines in our harbours”, just the nature of the vessels.

The RAN submarine fleet are based at HMAS Stirling south of Perth, WA and are such a scarce resource they are unlikely to come anywhere near NZ on a regular basis. Since NZ’s legislation effectively just stops port visits, the Aussie government will just send a frigate or support ship to ‘show the flag’.

When there is as much expertise around the cabinet table in nuclear engineering or military matters as you will find in the average primary school staff room then nothing is going to change any time soon. Signals to China in the wake of the announcement by Biden, Johnson and “That Fellow Down-under” are more important.

Oh, and by the way, just listened to a media report stating “Government won’t allow Aussie nuke sub in NZ waters” so…. perception I guess.