New Zealand's prime minister delivered a foreign policy speech at the Lowy Institute in Sydney on Thursday evening as part of a two-day visit to Australia.
The two countries are already formal defense allies, and their ties are comparable to those of any two countries in the world.
Mr Luxon, whose centre-right National party won last year's election, said he wanted to further strengthen ties and maximise opportunities for cooperation between the two countries.
“New Zealand wants to remain a credible and effective ally and partner,” he said, ahead of increased defence spending.
“New Zealand too must be a participant and a contributor, not an interested spectator.”
The government will soon publish a new defence capabilities plan, outlining key defence purchases and priorities for the next 15 years.
Mr Luxon said “strengthening interoperability with our ally Australia will be a central principle in our decisions on capability”.
In other words, New Zealand will seek to purchase similar or additional defence units to ensure the Anzac troops continue to march to the same beat.
“It is important that we can continue to work together to address the increasing range of security challenges we face, especially given the rapid pace of technological change,” he said.
Taking questions after his prepared remarks, Mr Luxon went a step further, saying he wanted New Zealand's defence to be “a force multiplier for Australia”.
Those comments will likely please Canberra, but will anger critics at home, including former prime minister Helen Clark, who accuse Luxon of focusing New Zealand's foreign policy too much on Australia and its ally the United States.
New Zealand is not involved in the AUKUS military pact, which would see Australia acquire nuclear submarines. Nor can it qualify for the anti-nuclear stance it has long held.
However, Mr Luxon confirmed that it is currently examining whether to join the second pillar of the agreement, which allows countries to share military technologies.
“We believe that AUKUS is actually a good thing for regional security and we have spoken positively about that within the broader Indo-Pacific region, and certainly within the Pacific region,” he said.
Mr Luxon also indicated that the defence capability plan may be published later than expected.
Earlier this year, Defence Secretary Judith Collins said she had brought forward the review to be completed in June, then later postponed it until September.
Mr Luxon told the Lowy Institute: “We expect it to be completed by the end of this year, perhaps early next year.”