I’m as guilty as the next Kiwi of complaining about the tyranny of distance, but the fact is we’re bloody lucky to live far across the ocean and out of harm’s way. 

We’re at least 10,000 kilometres away from the nearest nuclear weapon launch site, whether it’s China’s Jingxian Province or the United States' Pacific Coast. 

That doesn’t mean we’re immune to threats and fallout from conflict, nor should we ignore them.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters this week remarked he’d never seen such an uncertain geostrategic circumstance as the one we’re currently living in. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute published its yearbook Monday with a warning that the risk of a nuclear weapon being used is increasing.

Most of the nine nuclear armed states are either upgrading or replacing their stockpiles. 

Over the next few years, it estimates the rate at which new nuclear warheads replace old ones will accelerate to the point where, for the first time since the Cold War era, we’ll have an overall increase nuclear weapons. 

No matter how far from the frontlines we may be, and how safe we may feel as a consequence, it doesn’t mean we don’t or shouldn’t care about the rest of the world.

We Kiwis love travelling the globe and experiencing all the complexities and differences it has to offer. In doing so, we learn to appreciate our own backyard that wee bit more. 

This Matariki weekend I'll be taking a moment to be grateful that when I look to the night sky, I'll see stars rather than incoming missiles and drones. 

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