New Zealand reports on defence and security expected to call for more spending

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand will on Friday outline its defence plans, which are expected to include more money and resources to bolster forces that have long been seen as underfunded relative to those of defence partners.

Chris Hipkins’ Labour government will release the country’s first National Security Strategy, along with part of a review undertaken over the past 10 months to examine what investments are needed to carry out that strategy.

The strategy report will outline where the government should focus its efforts, tackling emerging issues such as disinformation and economic security, supporting Pacific resilience and strengthening ties in the Indo-Pacific, Hipkins said in a speech last month.

“We can’t be passive, and we need to keep investing,” Hipkins said.

New Zealand’s Labour government has already made significant investment in replacing its Vietnam-era P-3 Orion surveillance planes with P-8 Poseidon aircraft, upgrading its C-130 Hercules cargo planes, and boosting salaries to improve retention. But the defence forces are still stretched thin.

Three of the New Zealand Navy’s nine ships remain idle because of staff shortages, and plans to build a ship suitable for patrolling in the harsh conditions of the Southern Ocean are suspended. The government must also decide what to do about its ageing frigates.

“As a country, we have to get used to spending a bit more on security and defence generally,” said Robert Patman, director of international studies at the University of Otago. “One area I personally like to see more attention given is maritime security.”

He noted New Zealand’s 4 million square kilometre (1.54 million square mile) exclusive zone, and the expectation that competition for resources is likely to increase.

The review comes as concerns grow around national security, threats with geostrategic competition heating up and climate change causing more frequent and worse weather events.

New Zealand’s defence minister, Andrew Little, this year said that the country, which spends about 1% of its GDP on defence, would need to make big investments as it faces these challenges and as expectations grow from neighbours and partners that the country should do more.

Australia this year reviewed its own defence force and found it “not fit for purpose”. The review recommended the government prioritise long-range precision strike capability, domestic production of guided weapons, and diplomacy.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer. Editing by Gerry Doyle)