New Zealand boosts defence budget

Most ministries have been asked to cut their budgets by between 6.5% and 7.5%. Collins said she expected to make further funding announcements for the defence force following the release of the Defence Capability Report in the middle of the year.

The New Zealand government said on Friday the defence force would receive NZ$571 million ($344.6 million) to improve salaries for defence personnel and upgrade equipment and infrastructure.

Minister of Defence Judith Collins said NZ$163 million would go to improved salaries and the remainder would be for upgrades. The funds are partly provided through NZ$107 million in savings made by the defence force and the ministry of defence and most of it will be allocated over the next four years. Subject to ministerial approval some of the money would go to replacing the 40-year-old Unimog and Pinzgauer trucks that were the workhorses of the defence force.

"NZDF personnel are at the frontline of New Zealand's security but they cannot do their jobs without the right equipment and conditions," Collins said. New Zealand spends around 1% of GDP on its defence force and it has suffered a number of challenges including high turnover in part due to low pay, which has forced the navy to idle three ships.

Security is increasingly in focus for the government. Foreign Minister Winston Peters said last week the country needed to ask itself if it was doing its share to make the world more secure and that a number of partners had told him that contributing to global and regional security was not a luxury. The government is struggling with falling revenue and the budget due May 30 is expected to offer little new spending. Most ministries have been asked to cut their budgets by between 6.5% and 7.5%.

Collins said she expected to make further funding announcements for the defence force following the release of the Defence Capability Report in the middle of the year. She added the government would like to work towards increasing defence spending to around 2% of GDP. ($1 = 1.6570 New Zealand dollars)

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