TBF it's not a case of cutting just defence spending, it's a whole of govt initiative targeting NZ public services in general so as such is a nationally across the board policy ie police are having to reign in spending as well so it's not just any particular sector, they all had to find 6.5% savings. Every portfolio has current issues, problems and priorities so no one is exactly "exempt" from the funding issues per se.
NZDF General discussion thread
- Thread starter NZLAV
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I felt that this approach was not well though out and overly simplistic. there was no attempt to identify whether a department was operating in an efficient manner or not, whether they were over or understaffed for the task at hand or their budget was overly generous or already very tight. It just seemed to be a case of the government saying we don't care of any long term damage, we just want our money. Plain Bean Counter BS. Know doubt there was some fat cows in the government departments that needed to be trimmed and some quite significantly, but to me what happened was laziness and a failure to do the hard yards to get a equitable result.
CJohn
Active Member
A positive move in improving New Zealand's maritime domain awareness with the Defense Minister signing a contract with Starboard Maritime Intelligence.
defsec.net.nz
New Zealand Defence awards maritime awareness contract to Starboard Maritime Intelligence
The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with the New Zealand business for a service to improve New Zealand’s maritime awareness.
defsec.net.nz
Great that it is going to a NZ company but how long before it (the company) becomes so successful enough to get noticed on the global stage that it is sold to a foreign owner as is more often that not what happens to NZ IT successes? How secure / accessible is the data being held? Can just anyone 'sign up' for a subscription and share in what the NZDF is 'aware' of ...like a Mr Xi Jinping & Mr Putin & friends? Can it detect & track shipping with AIS switched off? Can it detect & track shipping in heavy cloud cover? Can it detect & track aircraft with transponders turned off?
The reality this that this system is not the data source or sensor suite etc but a consolidated dataset sourced from multiple other systems ...likely largely commercial in nature, but to be fair it will give the NZDF a lot more 'maritme domain awareness' that it already has so if anything it is a great start. It will allow the NZDF to deploy resources where there is something of concern seen.
However at the end of the day the RNZAF in particular still needs that 2nd tier patrol capability ...the C130J-30 will be a useful addition (with the Wescam MX-20 & range etc) but the issue with 40Sqn is that 5 Hercs aren't enough to provide resilience & surge capacity in transport capability alone so can't be spared a lot for those taskings. The upcoming defence review needs to identify this gap & ensure a argument is made for the 'EMAC' project (as it was last known) to see additional capability for the RNZAF. Knowing the funding & manpower issues facing the NZDF it will likely need to be an extension of an existing capability ...which in my book means (if it happens at all in the short term) this would most likely be a couple of additional King Airs with the sensor suites added for the closer in to shore taskings leaving the P8 & C130J to the more 'distant' taskings. Longer term who knows.
Knowing what is going on is nice. Being able to respond to what is going on would be even better. That requires effectors (in the general, not weapon specific, sense) as well as sensors. And for shipping, that really means a surface response, although helos can be useful in some circumstances, and when close to the coast.
Dunno, Skyhawks proved very successful when a naughty asian fishing boat disregarded the surface response of a navy patrol boat some years ago. That response stopped any further problems for years.
The PM was less PC in them days.Gracie1234
Well-Known Member
I would hope so otherwise why buy the platform? I think the chances of this have increased with the basing in Japan.
Catalina
Member
Sounds good thank you Gracie1234. In a similar vein, do you happen to know the upcoming deployments of our Frigates?
From what I recall I think one is going to Japan, and the other to the Middle East?
kiwi in exile
Active Member
Aussie Hugh White on TVNZ talking to katie Bradford about AUKUS II. He is here at invitation of Helen Clark and Don Brash (not sure where else he is speaking). He's AUKUS skeptic like Brash and Clark. Argues that the US is mishandling great power competition with china and that there may be little benefit in ill defined Pillar 2. Follows on from a Peters interview earlier in week
He’s also somebody who has always held views which do not necessarily align with mainstream thought. At heart, Hugh is an academic who likes to take contrary views. More power to him, it makes people think. But it doesn’t necessarily make for good, consistent and implementable government policy.
Interesting conversation with a contact who is a civvy reservist in NZDF ...I'm told they have started asking for voluntary redundancies amongst the civvy staff. Far from being a 'back office' role my contact has highly specialised skill that the NZDF needs to contract in. Apparently also in December a full review of reservist capability is to be undertaken which as my contact points out tends to suggest it will be undertaken with one objective in mind = reduction! Rather concerning amidst the current strategic environment and counter to the talk of needing to increase defence spending ...not to mention the expectation of allies!
I suspect we should expect very little to be committed to after the (already delayed) capability plan update ...if the plan is to reduce the cost of reserves then there is little likelihood we'll see big ticket capability spending.
I suspect we should expect very little to be committed to after the (already delayed) capability plan update ...if the plan is to reduce the cost of reserves then there is little likelihood we'll see big ticket capability spending.
That isn‘t always the case though. Australia routinely guts it’s reserve capability in order to redirect that expenditure and those resources, to the gold-plated shiny things we love to have in piecemeal numbers, to support the penny-packet deployments we make, so that our politicians can feel like “real” statesmen, without any real effort in supporting Defence, particularly one that comes with any potential political cost…
kiwi in exile
Active Member
Mouldy military housing needs fixing, but money is short, government says
several article on this issue on RNZ.
several article on this issue on RNZ.
Jees...finding the chasm between what the Govt is saying about the need to increase Defence spending and the actual spending they're prepared to make very disconcerting to say the least.
Catalina
Member
If the NZDF can't fight to protect the families of our service personnel from living in dangerous moldy homes what does it say for the NZDF commitment to its personnel? As well as affect the immune system moldy housing causes
- a runny nose
- red eyes
- skin rashes
- respiratory problems and infections
- asthma
- allergies.
Hawkeye69
Member
These types of cold damp and mouldy conditions lead to strep throat in children which leads to heart issues in teenage years which requires heart valve replacement. It’s a third World disease but rampant in NZ with our poor standard of housing. Overcrowding is another cause especially in cold mouldy homes, successive governments have tried to tackle housing and failed miserably, and need to build up in medium to high density to tackle the biggest housing shortages of 1&2 bedroom properties which is the biggest demand. Problem for this Government is that costs money they say we don’t have, it’s not just a NZDF problem it’s a nation wide issue and in NZ we should not have strep throat causing the harm it is.
The lack of money in the Government is self inflicted as they were the ones that cut taxes. This is very complicated due to procrastination by various governments, bean counters over the years to deal with the problem and some of it is made worse by residents of houses not ventilating their dwellings. When my family moved to Karioi ( between Waiouru and Ohakune) in 1950 we lived in a small 2 bed cottage of dubious ancestry and with no electricity. I remember waking up on frosty mornings and scraping the fine coating of ice off the inside of the window to see out, however I can never remember any mold. My sister and I never had any ailments that could be put down to the conditions we lived in, though we spent all our time outside if it was not raining or snowing.
We got power and a fridge when I was 11 years old which had a down side to it, in the form of wheatbix for breakfast instead of cooked leftovers mixed with either eggs or bacon. Without a fridge you could not keep anything left over from dinner, so it became breakfast.
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The latest round of cuts in the NZDF
NZDF warns more cuts are on the way | RNZ
NZDF warns more cuts are on the way | RNZ
kiwi in exile
Active Member
Not explicitly a defence article but impacts of potential defence spending generally and spending on other 'nice to haves' (health infrastructure, reliable safe connection between islands) One road to rule them all: Single motorway to swallow 10% of infrastructure spending for decades
all of these are political choices, its clearly not about a lack of money when the govt is keen to spend so much on roading. Im not against roads per see bu roads at the expense of all else is stupid. We need rail and ferries +/- coastal shipping as part of the picture (and public transport options in our cities).
Our PM and defmin have both made a point of sounding serious on defence in the media.
many used to spend so much effort bashing the left on this forum, but this current govt will likely have the worst effect on defence and NZ in general for a long time.
all of these are political choices, its clearly not about a lack of money when the govt is keen to spend so much on roading. Im not against roads per see bu roads at the expense of all else is stupid. We need rail and ferries +/- coastal shipping as part of the picture (and public transport options in our cities).
Our PM and defmin have both made a point of sounding serious on defence in the media.
many used to spend so much effort bashing the left on this forum, but this current govt will likely have the worst effect on defence and NZ in general for a long time.