Foreign Minister Winston Peters has hit back at Helen Clark's suggestion the New Zealand government is making a "profoundly undemocratic" foreign policy lurch, labelling her criticism as without substance.
New Zealand is in the midst of a major foreign policy rethink as the new right-leaning coalition embraces traditional partners like the US and Australia, and explores enhancing those relationships.
One such shift would be associate membership of the AUKUS defence pact - between Australia, the US and UK - which would lead to developing and sharing of advanced military technologies.
Japan is also actively considering joining the AUKUS tie-up, which is broadly seen as counter-balance to the huge and growing military power of China.
Mr Peters is in the United States this week for meetings at the United Nations in New York and with various officials in Washington including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and deputy Kurt Campbell, a key AUKUS go-to.
The Kiwi foreign minister says he doesn't know if AUKUS will be a focus of those meetings.
"It's a fast-moving feast and we expect to have some, in inverted commas, very meaningful discussions but I can't say what they will be about," he said.
Ms Clark feels the die is already cast and New Zealand is already "all-in" on the pact.
"New Zealand has worked carefully on a bipartisan basis for decades to balance its economic interests, democratic values, and nuclear free and independent foreign policy," she told AAP this week.
"This continues to be possible if politicians keep their nerve and are not drawn into geopolitical games driven from elsewhere."
Mr Peters said Ms Clark, who led New Zealand for nine years to 2008, was out of order.
"Helen Clark has got a past experience of being far more capable than that and I would think that she would regret the comment she's making because they are based on no such substance at all," he said.
While disputing a substantive shift, it is clear the Chris Luxon-led government is changing its language.
Mr Luxon, Mr Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins have taken to referring to the ANZUS Treaty - a previous no-go for Kiwi politicians after the US and New Zealand fell out in the 1980s over nuclear policy.
New Zealand's anti-nuclear stance and ban on nuclear-powered ships meant the United States suspended the security guarantee offered to Wellington.
The current-day language shift to refer to ANZUS is a nod to American leaders that New Zealand has interest in building up its security relationship with the US once more.
"We have been through decades of change since 1984, 1985, and I was in parliament at the time and remember it with great clarity," Mr Peters said.
"Here we are in a new world, 2024, where the issue is much more acute, much more clear, and the reception we've got here reflects that."
Mr Peters also makes the point that New Zealand's interest in AUKUS pillar two membership began under the previous Labour government.
Since losing the 2023 election, Labour has offered criticism of the pact, with leader Chris Hipkins saying he wants to see New Zealand avoid "picking a side in international conflicts" ... "particularly a conflict between China and the US".
In that sense, the rift in Kiwi politics has been opened up by Labour, rather than the coalition.
While in the US, Mr Peters is also taking meetings with senior Republicans, including Senate doyen Lindsey Graham, and Trump trade appointee Stephen Vaughn.
"We're talking to everybody," Mr Peters said.
Mr Peters - who turns 79 on Thursday - also caught the total solar eclipse in New York and offered thoughts on uniting power of the natural phenomenon.
"America is seen as a very divided country but for ... two hours yesterday all of a sudden it looked like a seriously united country," he said.
"Perhaps we need a whole lot more of that."
