The Coalition Government today released a multi-billion dollar plan for a modern, combat-capable New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) that pulls its weight internationally and domestically.
“Global tensions are increasing rapidly, and New Zealand has stepped up on the world stage, but our current Defence spending is simply too low,” Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says.
“This new Defence Capability Plan contains $12 billion of funding over the next four years, which includes $9 billion of new spending. This will raise New Zealand’s defence spending from just over one per cent of GDP to more than two per cent in the next eight years.
This is perfectly timed, and much needed. As the United States withdraws from the world, we need to be prepared to work with allies to protect our values and territory. We can’t freeload off other countries and only spend 1% of GDP on defence, when everyone else is spending 2% or more.
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This graph shows how massive the increase will be. We will get back to a level last seen 30 years ago. The world was a lot safer in the mid 1990s than it is today.
David Farrar runs Curia Market Research, a specialist opinion polling and research agency, and the popular Kiwiblog where this article was sourced. He previously worked in the Parliament for eight years, serving two National Party Prime Ministers and three Opposition Leaders.
5 comments:
What we must avoid is a significantly maori force. They and their apologists already dominate education, universities, nursing, govt departments, much of justice system, much of medical services, councils, unions. Many seem unable to resist the pull of racial connection and the primeval lure of the haka. A largely maori force could be a greater immediate threat to our democratic way of life than China. Certainly less certainty of strict law and order.
Well, yesss… but exactly what will this extra spending be directed to? Silly question, of course it will be for the direct and exclusive defence of our own nation, not the politically exciting ‘contribution’ to someone else’s war, about as far from our shores as you can get. And of course we can look forward to a return to universal conscription towards creating an extensive manpower capability, as well as a nation-creating element? No? What a shame. Just more of the same then, except a lot more expensive.
You certainly make a point which, I think, the gummint is scared of admitting. Maori activists may well jump on this for their own use..
I sometimes wonder if the purchase a few years ago of an absurd number of troop carriers was an artful move by some infiltrated decolonisation obsessed clerk to facilitate takeover by maori in the military.
Get real. Why are we wasting our funds on "Defence?" If the balloon goes up there is no way we could defend ourselves. Our naval craft would probably survive less than half an hour; our aircraft would be amusing missile practice for strike aircraft for a few minutes ; our land forces might have some nuisance value but would hardly be taken seriously. The farcical gesture of "Defence" is hardly worth a slice of our meagre budget. Those funds would not be wasted in many other needful areas.
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