The document was drafted after the university responded to NZDF tender documents, which included a contract for weapons research. The question which arises from this dispute is why should it not sell the fruits of its labour to the New Zealand Defence Force — or to providers of defence technology in other countries for that matter? The university document went to say that it would be necessary to communicate to the public ‘‘the ethical values and necessity of the tech and the safer world it provides’’. The ethics of defence technology are in the morals of the beholder — which the institution acknowledges, noting that individual academics were free to abstain from such work. But defence technology is not exclusively used in war.

Source: Otago Daily Times March 26, 2026 16:40 UTC