A former senior US diplomat has publicly questioned what New Zealand brings to its relationship with the United States, asking directly what policy contributions justify American investment in the partnership.

David Stilwell, who served as Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs from 2019 to 2021, made the remarks at an official event in 2024, according to RNZ. His framing was blunt: "What have you done for me lately?" — a question directed at New Zealand's policy contributions to the relationship.

Stilwell is a significant voice on this topic. A retired Air Force Brigadier General who graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1987, he was the principal diplomatic officer for US relations across the Indo-Pacific during the first Trump administration. He also sits on the Board of Governors of the East-West Center, an institution Congress funds specifically to strengthen US ties in Asia and the Pacific. When someone with this background raises questions in public, it carries weight.

His remarks identify a tension that has been building in the New Zealand-US relationship over several years. Wellington has long pointed to its role in Five Eyes intelligence-sharing (a close agreement between the US, UK, Australia, Canada and New Zealand) and its record of deploying personnel alongside US forces — from Afghanistan to recent multilateral operations — as evidence of commitment. Some in Washington, it appears, measure the relationship differently: they want to know what New Zealand does in its own region and whether it is willing to take positions that cost it something politically or economically.

Stilwell outlined the State Department's strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific in a 2020 speech while still in office. His public commentary since leaving government has consistently tracked with that framework — the expectation that allies and partners do more, and that simply being present in the region is not enough without policy alignment.

The timing of Stilwell's remarks matters for Wellington's current position. The government has been trying to manage a difficult balance: deepening economic ties with China while maintaining security relationships with the US, the UK and Australia. New Zealand's decision not to join the original AUKUS trilateral agreement (a security partnership between the US, UK and Australia) was noted in Washington. Subsequent discussions about a potential Pillar Two association — a looser form of participation — have not resolved American questions about how far New Zealand is willing to go.

The critique in "what have you done for me lately?" goes beyond defence spending, where New Zealand's investment remains well below NATO standards and where the government has committed only to modest increases by regional comparisons. It is also about diplomatic posture — whether New Zealand will say things publicly that could annoy Beijing, and whether it will do so alongside its partners rather than following them.

New Zealand's traditional argument has been that quiet diplomacy works better than public statements, and that its independent foreign policy tradition gives it access and credibility that more closely aligned countries sometimes lack. That position has historical support. But it relies on other countries accepting that premise, and Stilwell's remarks suggest at least some voices in Washington no longer do.

How seriously to take comments from a former official is a reasonable question. Stilwell left the State Department in January 2021 and does not represent the current administration. But retired senior US officials do not typically speak publicly without reflecting views held in the policy circles they remain connected to. His remarks are better read as an indication of currents in the policy community than as an isolated observation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has not publicly responded. Whether officials have engaged privately is unknown.