Opposition leader Judith Collins says the absence of New Zealand from the newly formed trilateral security partnership AUKUS is “concerning” and leaves many questions for the Ardern government to answer. “It’s disappointing that after many years of New Zealand’s co-operation with our traditional allies, the current government appears to have been unable to participate in discussions for AUKUS,” the National Party leader said in a statement on Sept. 16. “It raises serious concerns about the interoperability of New Zealand’s defence force systems with our traditional allies in the future.” “New Zealand is not interested in the nuclear side of the new partnership, but the deeper integration of technology, artificial intelligence and information sharing as well as security and defence-related science, industrial bases and supply chains are areas we would traditionally be involved in,” she added. “New Zealand’s strong nuclear-free stance shouldn’t have been a barrier to us joining such a …