Domestic pushback to New Zealand's AUKUS bid grows

"We don't want to see AUKUS used as a wedge," New Zealand Opposition Leader Chris Hipkins says. (Mark Coote/AAP PHOTOS)

Labour leaders past and present are pushing back against New Zealand's interest in joining AUKUS, describing Australia's military tie-up as an attempt to "wedge" China and a trade threat.

Three-term Labour prime minister and New Zealand's leading internationalist Helen Clark has teamed up with her 2005 election rival, then-National leader Don Brash, to voice their opposition to the pact.