Boutique Defence Force As Kiwis Scale Down
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday May 7, 2001
New Zealand will announce a shake-up of its defence forces tomorrow axing a combat role for its air force and scaling back its navy, leaving Australia to fight its battles.
The move, which brings a direct cost to the Howard Government and further erodes New Zealand's self-defence capabilities, was outlined in secret to Canberra by a New Zealand government official on Friday.
Australian-based NZ Skyhawk jets provide 1,350 hours flying time to the Australian Navy under the 11-year Nowra Agreement at around $NZ95 million, an arrangement Australian defence officials acknowledge is highly cost-effective.
Under the changes, New Zealand will disband its combat and jet-trainer capability almost immediately, retaining the Nowra squadron until December only. It is expected about 250 jobs will go from the air force.
That will put pressure on the building project for Australia's new BAe Systems Hawk jet trainers underway at Willamtown, near Newcastle. Deliveries of the new aircraft are running behind schedule and in March, the Prime Minister, Mr Howard, asked his New Zealand counterpart, Miss Clark, to consider extending the Skyhawk contract until January 2003.
Also included in the shake-up:
* NZ's Orion anti-submarine aircraft upgrade, designed to make their communications equipment compatible with allies, will not proceed, leaving them mainly to fisheries surveillance and search and rescue roles;
* Instead of buying a third frigate, NZ will opt for a smaller multi-purpose vessel, equipped with a helicopter and light armaments but unable to defend itself in a naval combat situation;
* The navy will boost its fleet with three or four inshore patrol vessels, able to assist in fisheries patrol and resource protection work, but its military sealift vessel will be sold.
The moves are to help fund equipment for the army. Miss Clark's government faced a wish list from defence officials that would have pushed defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product. Treasury, Defence and the Prime Minister's Department are understood to have cut the list to about 1.1 per cent of GDP, largely at the air force's expense.
Opposition shadow minister for defence, Steve Martin, said Australia would benefit from being able to recruit the air force pilots, but New Zealand would be left with ``a boutique defence force", able to contribute to peacekeeping operations but relying on others for protection.
Alan Beam, former head of the Defence Department's strategic division in Canberra, said chopping the Skyhawks meant New Zealand's air force would become ``the army's aerial taxi service".
``There will be considerable disappointment in Canberra. New Zealand has one of the best maritime strike forces in the region and Australia benefits greatly from that. Modern warfare requires armies be backed up with firepower from the air. Without that, New Zealand will get the easier jobs to do. The overall capability of the army is eroded," he said.
© 2001 Sydney Morning Herald