We must have money coming out our ears to consider this.
I wouldn't worry too much about NZ being able to be part of any space exploration project. NZ is , on average, 25 years behind the times in anything to do with technology or space exploration. And when, on the rare occasions new technology either arrives in NZ or arises here, the government of the day usually does everything it can to avoid being in the least helpful towards the new technology. The reason for that is simple enough: the politicians don't see any electoral value in it, don't see how helping technology evovle will gain them votes, the only thing they actually care about. Space exploration projects are viewed as technology by politicians, thus, ignored. Meanwhile, it is more efficient to garner votes by pandering to political correctness, bringing in African immigrants,and generally ignoring any issue that might assure NZ making some real-world progress. NZ has never been any different, in that regard: the nation has a long and incredibly dull history of its' government failing miserably to support anything technological that might provide an opportunity to join the modern world.
This project would be a marvelous investment for New Zealand's scientific community and the nation at large. opportunities of this magnitude do not present themselves very often in our part of the world. Vision is needed in all quarters to bring this amazing project our way.