Defense Minister Peeni Henare has launched a defense policy review that could reshape New Zealand’s military.
In an announcement on Thursday, Henare said the government wanted to ensure the Defense Force was “fit for purpose” in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, intensifying competition between major powers and escalating climate change†
The cabinet has asked defense agencies to write a new defense policy and strategy statement, expected in October 2022. A statement on “future force design principles” is expected in April 2023. Strategic Defense Policy Statement prepared by the Labor coalition government in 2018.
“The importance of this assessment is paramount so that we can ensure that future investments are fit for purpose in a post-Covid-19 environment, a Pacific region struggling with climate change and the intensification of strategic competition, and a world brutally invading Ukraine by Russia,” Henare said.
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Henare, who took on the role of defense minister in November 2020, has long indicated that he would redraw defense priorities and mark them with the Labor stamp.
The policy review comes at a difficult time for the Defense Force, which is grappling with outdated equipment, the introduction of new aircraft, high turnover and a lack of training due to the pandemic.
Henare said the plans would outline a “high-level strategy” for defense and “shape the future” of the Defense Force.
ROBERT KITCHEN/Things
Defense Minister Peeni Henare says the government’s 2022 budget will help “relieve tension” felt by the Defense Force, which has struggled to maintain capacity during the pandemic.
The design principles would “define the activities and scenarios that the future armed forces may need to undertake based on current and predicted trends”.
In addition, the government could ask for a new defense white paper and capacity plan. The latest capacity plan, written in 2019, set out the government’s planned major, multi-billion dollar asset purchases for decades to come.
Henare has previously said this 2019 Defense Capability Plan remained in effect, although defense spending would likely be squeezed.
“While the 2019 Defense Capability Plan will continue to guide our investments, developments in Ukraine, climate change and the magnitude and regularity of natural disasters remind us that contingencies require a flexible and dynamic approach to strategy and defense capability,” he said. said Thursday.
NZDF
One of the Defense Force’s 50-year-old C130 Hercules aircraft, in Europe to help move military aid to Ukraine.
National Party spokesman Tim van de Molen said the government had gone through the revision process in 2019 and that the latest revision would only “pave the way”.
“I’m not sure how many times you have to keep reviewing, considering and reviewing before you actually deliver.”
The Defense Forces urgently needed regeneration, said Van de Molen.
The government had made no major investments during this period, and defense spending would decrease significantly in the coming years, he said.
The Ministry of Defense published a Defense Assessment in 2020 that identified the security risks facing New Zealand and recommended a review of the government’s defense policy.
The review said a more proactive strategy is needed to better “pre-empt and prevent” security risks.
Among the threats cataloged by the assessment were: China’s growing presence, the potential for a military base to be built in the Pacific by a country not affiliated with New Zealand, and the intensification of natural disasters. as a result of climate change.