New Zealand to spend NZ$2 billion on new maritime helicopters
By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) -The New Zealand government said on Sunday it had set aside NZ$2 billion ($1.19 billion) in its upcoming budget to replace the Defence Force's aging maritime helicopters, as global tensions increase.
Along with money for the helicopters, the government said it would increase baseline spending by NZ$239 million for the Defence Force each year over the next four years.
'It is very clear that New Zealand is not immune from the increasing tensions being felt throughout the world,' New Zealand Minister of Defence Judith Collins said in a statement.
'(This) sets us on our path for defence spending to reach 2% of GDP by 2032-33,' she added.
New Zealand's Defence Force has struggled with systemic underspending over the past several decades, which amounts to just over 1% of GDP now. In April, the government said it would boost defence spending with NZ$9 billion of new funding over the next four years.
'There is no economic security without national security. Global tensions are increasing rapidly, and Defence personnel need the right equipment and conditions to do their jobs,' Collins added.
'As a maritime nation we are prioritising naval capability,' she said.
New Zealand's first national security review in 2023 called for more military spending and stronger ties with Indo-Pacific nations to tackle climate change and strategic competition among the West, China and Russia.
New Zealand has eight SH-2G(I) Seasprite maritime helicopters. Collins said replacing these will increase the defensive and offensive capabilities and surveillance range of New Zealand's frigates.
Collins added she will have more to say about defence investments in the coming year when the government unveils its budget. New Zealand's budget is scheduled for May 22, and will outline spending for the 12-month period to June 30, 2026.
($1 = 1.6821 New Zealand dollars)
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So people in the country have to see the threats that exist at the moment and the threats that will be there in the future and make a decision about what they have.' It's a fair point. For all the grumbling about Keir Starmer's timidness, the truth is his government – and British taxpayers – face three equally unpalatable options. They could borrow, while national debt is already at 95 per cent of GDP and growth anaemic; raise taxes, when the tax burden is already on course to be the highest since the Second World War; or make cuts elsewhere, when public services are already struggling. Is the blunt message, then, that to be safe ordinary Britons will have to make sacrifices? 'I think so. Unless the economy improves and unless we get growth – and a lot of what we are doing is promoting growth, defence expenditure is a way of gaining growth – then that makes the pie bigger and the choice is less difficult to make. 'We don't live in a world where there is an infinite amount of money available. It's a question of priorities. And if in a national conversation, which the Prime Minister has promised he's going to lead, people come to the conclusion that they want to avoid the lights going out or the hospitals being shut or the airports being shuttered and the data cables being broken, then the insurance premium that keeps your family safe has got be afforded.' As Robertson leaves The Telegraph, I remark that there is something about our conversation that leaves me uneasy. Here we are, a journalist in his 40s and a peer of the realm in his 70s – blithely discussing a war that neither of us will probably have to fight in. Does he find it morally awkward, talking about sacrifices today's teenagers and twenty-somethings will be asked to make? 'It is, and that's why I'm so obsessive about deterrence,' he says. 'The idea is to do this now so we don't have to fight.' He returns to the nuclear question, and three decades of interactions with top Russian officials. 'I've been in the Kremlin. And I am convinced that even if we did everything you've suggested – double the size of the army, and so on – the one thing that will really get their attention is the independent nuclear deterrent.' 'You know, there are people who will still argue that if Ukraine had not given up its nuclear weapons in 1994, in return for the paper assurances of the Budapest memorandum, that Russia would never have dared to have crossed the border. I don't know if you can prove that or disprove that. 'All I know is that Nato and the Article 5 guarantee is a deterrent to any aggressor who thinks that they can take on these 32 countries. So all of the missiles, all of the submarines, all of the planes that we are proposing are part of the build-up to war readiness are designed not to be used. 'They're designed to make sure that nobody fires that cruise missile.' Watch the full Lord Robertson interview on the Battle Lines podcast here. You can also listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
