US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth says New Zealand is "freeloading" off the American military because of its low level of military spending.
Hegseth made the comments today at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Asia-Pacific's premier security conference.
New Zealand Defence Minister Chris Penk was listening in the audience.
In his address, Hegseth, said nations needed to reach a level where 3.5% of national spending goes towards their own military.
"For those nations that rise to this challenge, and embrace responsibility as true partners, the benefits will be clear - as our strategy states we will prioritise working with model allies. Those nations that are most capable, clear eyed, and ready to defend their national interest," Hegseth said.
"For those nations we are moving them to the front of the line - expedited arms sales, deep industrial base collaboration, expanded intelligence sharing."
"For those who continue to free-ride on the generosity of the American taxpayer, hear us now: those days are over. Allies that refuse to stand up and carry their weight for our collective defence will face a clear shift in how we do business."
New Zealand plans to boost its defence spending to 2%.
In this year's Budget, the Government has planned $1.6b in new defence spending. Part of that will go into maintaining and improving our ageing navy and investing in drones, among other things.
Later Hegseth was asked if New Zealand was one of those "freeloading" countries.
He responded: "2% is not enough so 2% is freeloading. I don't have anything against New Zealand, I want partners to step up."
"I look forward to working with the new defence minister - that relationship has been a fruitful one for a very long time," he said.
Pete Hegseth made the comments at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, while NZ Defence Minister Chris Penk was in the audience. (Source: Associated Press)
"I am most blunt with our closest friends about what our capabilities are and what they need to be to ensure we are locking arms and shields considering the threats of the world and we can't just say 'we have been friends for a long time so let's just work together'.
"It's we've been friends for a long time, so you better have the same capabilities that we do because if we don't our alliance is meaningless."
Foreign affairs expert and writer of the Between Giants Substack Anna Fifield was present at the conference where Hegseth made his comments.
She told 1News New Zealand was a long way from the level of spending Hegseth referenced.
"Our government has laid out a plan to get to 2% in the next eight years," Fifield said.
"He doesn't want to be providing protection for countries that are not pulling their wait anymore. Our defence minister Chris Penk was sitting in the front and got that message loud and clear, but I doubt there is an appetite in New Zealand to be spending that amount of money on defence," she said.
"It was very striking he spoke a lot about partnerships, he said the age of protectorates is over and the us is looking for partnerships in the region. He also took quite a moderate tone on China – he said the US was not looking for conflict.... it seems very clear the US is trying to avoid provoking or antagonising China in any way and keep things stead as they continue to deal with the chaos in the Middle East."
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