A visiting defence expert is urging New Zealand to rethink how additional money for defence gets spent.
Sam Roggeveen, the International Security programme director at the Lowy Institute, told Q+A that rapidly developing technology and geopolitical changes should change the calculus around defence spending.
He said the great defensive advantage enjoyed by Australia and New Zealand was distance, with any potential attacker facing near-insurmountable challenges in getting military assets across the Pacific Ocean.
“What I would argue for is for both countries to think in terms of protecting their air and maritime space, by having the capability to shoot down aircraft, and sink ships and submarines if they have to,” said Roggeveen.
He criticised increases in defence spending that have been seen in Australia, saying it should be done very differently and wouldn’t require “big, traditional surface ships”.
“It certainly doesn’t require any tanks, or anti-tank helicopters of the kind Australia is purchasing.”
Defence Minister Judith Collins and Associate Minister Chris Penk say the strategy will future-proof the NZDF. (Source: 1News)
The Government has been investigating replacements for ageing Navy frigates.
Roggeveen is the author of The Echidna Strategy, a book which argues Australia’s military posture should reflect the spiky native marsupial, by making itself impossible for a predator to digest.
However, Roggeveen conceded the advantage of distance could be eroded if a hostile power were to set up bases in the Pacific Islands.
He noted that as China has risen as an economic power, it has increasingly asserted itself as the dominant military power of the Asia-Pacific.
At the same time, the United States has retreated, and Roggeveen believes the US is less likely to come to the aid of Australia and New Zealand if either were attacked, even allowing for the formal alliance between Australia and the United States.
“All of the advantages of distance that I’ve spoken about would be compromised if China had a permanent military presence in the Pacific, so that is something that New Zealand and Australian statecraft should be devoted to,” he said.
“Australia and New Zealand retain important advantages in that regard,” he added, noting proximity, strong diplomatic links, and aid spending.
