Government to spend $571m on defence boost
The Government will boost defence spending by $571 million for soldiers’ pay and military housing and hardware at the coming Budget.
Defence Minister Judith Collins visited the Burnham military camp, near Christchurch, yesterday morning to announce defence spending plans for the Budget, due to be delivered on May 30.
“Our people are at the front line of New Zealand security in an increasingly unstable world, and an increasingly unstable world makes it essential that we retain our hard-working and well-trained people, who without hesitation deploy throughout the world to ensure New Zealand does more than just talk about doing the right thing,” Collins said.
“We need to stabilise the force, and today’s announcement of pay increases for our unified [sic] personnel is key to that.”
The Government has for months signalled that it would continue to invest in defence despite its efforts to cut $7.5 billion out of government spending, as it seeks to both wrangle high inflation but also afford tax cut promises made at the election.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters has also in recent weeks said partner countries – that he would not name – have made it clear that New Zealand needs to change its “parsimony” with defence spending and pull its weight in an increasingly contested world.
The increased defence spending follows recent years’ Budgets which have pumped billions into the Defence Force, as it has struggled with high attrition, ageing assets, and bringing new assets – such as P8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft – into service.
At the 2023 Budget, the Labour Government committed $419m to defence pay, and $328m for assets and infrastructure.
Of the $571m announced by Collins yesterday, $163m will be spent on improving salaries for defence staff, and $408m on upgrading equipment and infrastructure.
Much of this would be spent in the coming four years.
Some of this money will come from $99m of savings the Defence Force has found within its existing budget, including from projects ending, reducing international and domestic travel, and decreasing spending on contractors.
“This is the amount that we believe we can afford. But also, it is a significant improvement as well on the current remuneration package that defence has,” Collins said.
How much salaries would increase by would be determined by Defence Force executives, Collins said. She did not imagine that the pay rises would be “going right to the top”.
The equipment the Government was committed to funding included new navigation and communication systems for the air force’s NH90 helicopters, and replacements for the army’s 40-year-old Unimog and Pinzgauer trucks, which are commonly used during civil defence emergencies.
Also funded will be a “cloud-based computer application” for the Defence Force to watch New Zealand’s maritime domain in real time.
Another logistics building at Linton Military Camp will be built, and 35 homes in Devonport, Auckland will be leased for defence staff.
Also being upgraded is the Defence Force’s digital “classified environment”, for communication with partner countries.
After the Budget, Collins will receive a renewed defence capability plan, which will outline what defence assets the Government intends to acquire in the coming decades. “I know that defence is going to need more, and I’m very happy to help them get that,” she said.