Bryce Edwards: Are we spending too little – or too much – on the military?

New Zealand has once again been ranked the second-most peaceful nation in the world. When it comes to the Asia-Pacific region and the Southern Hemisphere, New Zealand is at the top of the peace rankings. This is according to the Institute for Economics and Peace, which recently released its annual Global Peace Index.

Iceland beat us for the top spot once again. In contrast, Australia came in at number 27, the UK 34, France 65, and the United States at 129. Afghanistan is at the bottom with a rank of 163.

In recent years the institute has downgraded New Zealand’s peacefulness due to the Government’s increased military spending. And that looks set to occur again, with some strong signs that defence is about to receive a big boost from the Labour Government.