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Western Puppets Dance to Israel's Tune” - 26 August 2025

How Australia and New Zealand Expose Their Colonial Servitude Through Anti-Iran Theater

Ivor Jones The Māori Green Ltn

26 Aug 2025 — 6 min read

Kia ora, whānau. Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui. Be strong, be brave, be steadfast.

The recent diplomatic circus starring Anthony Albanese's expulsion of Iran's ambassador and Winston Peters' pathetic half-measures reveals the ugly truth about our so-called independent nations. Both Australia and New Zealand have once again bent the knee to their imperial masters, this time orchestrating an anti-Iran propaganda campaign that serves Israeli and American interests while abandoning any pretense of sovereignty or justice.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/571129/nz-unequivocally-condemns-iran-s-actions-peters

Background

To understand this shameful display, we must first recognize what tino rangatiratanga truly means - the right of peoples to determine their own destiny free from foreign interference. Yet here we witness two nations that claim independence while acting as eager lapdogs for powers that have no regard for Indigenous sovereignty or genuine self-determination.

The concept of manaakitanga teaches us to extend hospitality and respect to all peoples, yet we see our governments selectively applying diplomatic norms based on the whims of their imperial handlers. This selective approach becomes clear when examining how New Zealand has been mysteriously aware of Israeli military planning against Iran, with Winston Peters admitting the government was "surprised, but not totally surprised" by Israeli strikes.

The hypocrisy deepens when we consider that just months earlier, Peters joined international calls demanding Israel allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, yet now rushes to condemn Iran without evidence or due process.

On August 26, 2025, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the expulsion of Iranian ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi, alleging Iran's involvement in attacks on a Sydney restaurant and Melbourne synagogue. Australia also designated the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. New Zealand's Winston Peters issued a condemnatory statement but stopped short of expelling Iran's ambassador, demonstrating the typical cowardice of a vassal state trying to appear independent while following orders.

These accusations rest on claims by ASIO Director-General Mike Burgess of supposed links between the attacks and IRGC commanders. No evidence has been publicly presented, yet both nations have acted as judge, jury, and executioner in service of their masters' agenda.

For Māori and other Indigenous peoples watching this charade, it represents another example of settler-colonial states prioritizing the interests of foreign powers over justice, truth, or the wellbeing of their own people. This matters because the same surveillance apparatus used to "monitor" Iran will inevitably target Māori activists, land defenders, and anyone challenging the white supremacist status quo.

The Israel Lobby's Invisible Hand

The timing and coordination of these actions expose the hidden networks pulling the strings. Research reveals Israel's surprisingly close diplomatic friendship with Pacific nations, where countries like the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau consistently vote with Israel at the UN in exchange for aid and diplomatic support. This pattern of influence extends to larger nations like Australia and New Zealand through more sophisticated channels.

The opacity of this influence becomes clear when examining how lobbyists in New Zealand enjoy freedoms unlike most other developed nations. Unlike Australia's transparent lobbying register, New Zealand operates in darkness, allowing foreign interests to shape policy without public scrutiny.

Winston Peters, that weathered opportunist who has spent decades perfecting the art of political survival, knows exactly whose tune he's dancing to. His carefully worded condemnation reads like a script written in Tel Aviv, designed to show loyalty without triggering the domestic backlash that might come from expelling an ambassador. This is the behavior of a colonial administrator, not a leader of an independent nation.

The allegations against Iran follow a familiar pattern of evidence-free accusations designed to manufacture public consent for aggressive foreign policy actions. We've seen this playbook before - weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons in Syria, and now mysterious attacks conveniently attributed to Iran without transparent investigation or due process.

What's particularly galling is how this anti-Iran theater serves to deflect attention from Israel's ongoing violations of international law. The same government that made it illegal for anyone in New Zealand to support Hamas while maintaining full diplomatic relations with Israel demonstrates the racist double standards at play.

When the United States launched attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities, calls for the New Zealand government to denounce the aggression were ignored, with Peters instead offering tacit endorsement of bombing a sovereign nation's infrastructure.

The Surveillance State's New Targets

This anti-Iran theater serves another crucial function: expanding the surveillance apparatus that will inevitably be turned against domestic dissidents. The connection between foreign surveillance justifications and domestic repression becomes clear when examining how police plans to use facial recognition technology would disproportionately impact Māori.

For Māori communities already subjected to disproportionate surveillance and policing, this escalation should set off alarm bells. The same intelligence networks claiming to track Iranian operatives are gathering data on land rights activists, water protectors, and anyone challenging the settler-colonial system.

The weaponization of surveillance against Indigenous resistance became evident during the Parliament protests, where concern was raised over far-right activists appropriating tikanga Māori, with researchers warning about the infiltration of overseas white supremacist narratives targeting mana motuhake movements.

Exposing the Colonial Mindset

The most revealing aspect of this entire episode is how it exposes the deep colonial mentality that still governs both Australia and New Zealand. True sovereignty means the ability to conduct independent foreign policy based on one's own interests and values. Yet both nations have demonstrated they remain intellectually and politically colonized, incapable of independent thought when their imperial patrons issue orders.

This servile behavior violates fundamental Māori values like whakatōhea - the courage to stand up for what is right regardless of pressure from powerful interests. Our ancestors fought against colonial domination precisely to preserve the right to make our own decisions based on our own values, not the demands of foreign powers.

Implications

This manufactured crisis reveals several disturbing trends that extend far beyond Middle Eastern geopolitics. First, it demonstrates how easily our governments can be manipulated into serving foreign interests while claiming to protect national security. Second, it shows the growing coordination between Western intelligence agencies in targeting countries that challenge American-Israeli hegemony.

Most importantly for our communities, it previews how the expanding surveillance state will be used against domestic movements for Indigenous rights, environmental protection, and social justice. The infrastructure being built to monitor "foreign threats" becomes the foundation for suppressing local resistance to settler-colonial power structures.

The broader implications connect to global patterns of digital transnational repression, where authoritarian practices spread across borders through shared intelligence networks and surveillance technologies. What begins as counterterrorism ends as comprehensive social control.

The Māori Green Lantern fighting misinformation and disinformation from the far right

This shameful episode strips away any remaining illusions about Australian and New Zealand independence. Both nations have revealed themselves as willing servants of imperial interests, ready to abandon diplomatic norms and manufacturing security threats when their masters demand it.

The lesson for Māori and all Indigenous peoples is clear: we cannot rely on settler-colonial governments to protect our interests or uphold justice when it conflicts with their imperial obligations. True tino rangatiratanga means building our own institutions, our own networks of solidarity, and our own capacity to resist the surveillance state being constructed around us.

The path forward requires recognizing these manufactured crises for what they are - distractions from the real work of decolonization and resistance to white supremacist power structures. While Peters and Albanese perform their puppet show for imperial audiences, we must focus on building the independent institutions and movements that can challenge settler-colonial domination at its roots.

E tū, whānau. Stand strong against the lies and manipulation. The future of our people depends on our ability to see through the smoke screens and focus on the real struggles ahead.

Readers who find value in my content and wish to support the cause of exposing misinformation and white supremacy, please consider a koha to: HTDM: 03-1546-0415173-000. The MGL understands these tough economic times for whānau, so please only contribute if you have capacity and wish to do so.

Ngā mihi,
The Māori Green Lantern

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