The Government intends to rewrite the Defence Force’s priorities, as the defence minister signals a possible move away planned billion-dollar investments in ships and aeroplanes.
The Defence Force received $5 million in new spending in Budget 2021, announced by the Government on Thursday. The allocation, for maintaining the defence estate, was a fraction of the more than $2 billion allocated in 2019, and $1.7 billion in 2020 for big ticket items like new Hercules aeroplanes.
Asked about the funding decision, Defence Minister Peeni Henare said the Government was “looking to reset our priority principles to make sure that they're aligned with ... the direction that we're going”.
“You'll see in the very near few weeks an announcement on our policy priorities and principles that will shape the way we look towards a budget in the future for defence.”
Henare said he was keen to “see how we might grow our people capacity and our infrastructure here at home”.
“I know a lot of the media make a point about measuring them [the Defence Force] by ships and guns, actually, you know, we have a large housing stock, we have large infrastructure in the Defence Force here in Aotearoa, as well as people, and I'd like to see us focus there,” he said.
READ MORE
- Defence Force seeks more drones for fleet
- Defence Force launches new Southern Ocean patrol vessel project, price tag $300m+
- New Zealand navy will join British flotilla on tour through East Asia, defence minister says
- Defence Force service members told to get vaccinated or face being fired
A new defence assessment was listed among “key priorities” for the Defence Force in a briefing the minister received in November, obtained by Stuff under the Official Information Act.
The briefing, prepared in advance of a phone call Henare was set to have with an American counterpart, said officials were working on this defence assessment for release in the second half of 2021.
“With a new Government, and the impact of Covid-19 worsening negative trends in our security environment, [redacted] it is timely to look again at our policy settings,” the briefing for Henare read.
“The assessment will help inform future policy and capability decisions for defence.”
The prior Labour-coalition Government had mapped out major spending in a capability plan in 2019 that included new frigates, the purchase of a new sealift vessel (or military cargo ship) in the mid-2030s, an investment in maritime satellite surveillance in 2025, and military drones after 2030.
The plan also signalled an intent to bolster the army to bring the total number of infantrymen and women to 6000 by 2035.
Victoria University strategic studies professor Robert Ayson said it appeared the Government’s message to the Defence Force was that “leaner years” were on the way.
“It sounds to me like some of those some of those parts of that defence capability plan might be a little bit vulnerable,” he said.
“If [Henare] is starting to talk about spending more on people and real estate, that suggests to me that those priorities are more about doing more with what the Defence Force already has, as opposed to new equipment.”
Ayson said the Defence Force had sought offers for the construction of an ice-strengthen ocean patrol vessel, “which suggests that they’re still thinking about capabilities”.
The most recent defence assessment took place in 2014, and was followed by a defence white paper and capability plan in 2016. But this was re-written by the prior Labour-coalition Government in 2018, when it published the Strategic Defence Policy Statement and its subsequent capability plan.
The Strategic Defence Policy Statement was remarkable for it explicitly stating China and Russia were threats, and detailing the efforts of both to exert power in a way that challenged the international rules-based order.
The 2018 policy focused on three areas: community (supporting New Zealand's community and environmental wellbeing and resilience); nation (keeping New Zealand safe and secure); and world (maintaining the international rules-based order).
