Balanced News: US defence official says door is open for further talks with New Zealand

The US defence official says that the door is open for further talks with New Zealand in the cyber arena. Kurt Campbell, Joe Biden’s National Security Council co-ordinator for the Indo Pacific, briefed media in Wellington today on the defence pact between Australia, the UK and the US. He said that the US was now looking for other working group partners, and from his perspective the door was open for further talks with New Zealand. The US is continuing its diplomatic push in the Pacific and will visit the Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands and the Cook Islands as the next stops on his diplomacy tour. Meanwhile, Australia’s Minister of Defence Richard Marles said that the country had not gained access to American submarines by promising it would join any potential conflict over Taiwan. Any decision around a future conflict would be made by the government of the day.