$2.3b Poseidon adventure

‘‘International relationships are invaluable for small countries with small defence budgets. But

$500 million an aircraft is a big price to pay for keeping in with the neighbours.’’

Everybody needs good neighbours – but at what cost? Compared with its Five Eyes allies in the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada, New Zealand is the defence weakling, relying on the others to come to its aid should a big bully start throwing its weight about in the South Pacific playground.

Last week’s Strategic Defence Policy Statement makes it abundantly clear who we think that bully might be, and contains some frank language about China’s activities in the South China Sea. Even Acting Prime Minister Winston Peters, while trying hard not to mention China, talked on RNZ about the Asia-Pacific region being a ‘‘muchheightened stress area of geopolitical challenges and concerns’’.

With this surely in mind, the Government has announced it will spend

$2.3 billion on four Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircraft to replace its ageing Orions. The new planes, to be delivered by 2023, will have the capacity to carry missiles and bombs, and to hunt and destroy submarines. Part of the enormous cost will cover shifting the squadron that will fly the planes from Whenuapai, in Auckland, to Ohakea, near Palmerston North, and various infrastructure work that will go with that move.

The Government, the Defence Force, and the National Party all seem to be on board for the Poseidon adventure, leaving the Greens to ask why we are spending so much money on just four aircraft, and whether we need all that bombdropping capability. Those questions are fair, and should not be dismissed simply because they come from a party of inveterate peaceniks.

Of course, New Zealand needs to be seen to be playing its part in strategic defence alliances, and this decision will send a message that we are serious about that role. Defence Minister Ron Mark argues that National put off the hard decisions on defence procurement for too long, and the coalition Government has grasped the nettle. Defence Force chief Kevin Short, a former Orion navigator, welcomes the military capabilities of the Poseidon, pointing out: ‘‘We are a military force, and what we wanted . . . is a response option.’’ In civilian speak, that means bombs, or at the very least the threat of bombs.

That’s a fair point. But it is also a small military force, which should arguably concentrate its resources on what it’s good at; and what the Royal New Zealand Air Force is good at is maritime search and rescue. Our Pacific neighbours recognise and welcome its expertise at finding people adrift in vast expanses of ocean, and dropping crucial supplies to them. Some critics say the Poseidons are not best suited to that role, but they will need to continue doing it regularly over their anticipated 35-year lifespan. How often will they be called upon to seek out and destroy submarines?

At such a high cost, has New Zealand bought the best available aircraft at the best price? Could it, perhaps, have bought more planes, with a greater variety of uses, for the same money? Or is the Poseidon, as some have argued, the only proven performer; a bird in the hand worth two that aren’t yet in the air?

International relationships are invaluable for small countries with small defence budgets. But $500 million an aircraft is a big price to pay for keeping in with the neighbours.