The move will put pressure on governments around the world to invest more in defense.
The New Zealand Prime Minister has vowed to double his defence spending, but has yet to show how quickly this will happen.
Currently, around 1% of GDP is sent to the New Zealand Defense Force (NZDF) and the Department of Defense, and Christopher Luxon wants to see “as close to 2% as possible.”
“We know that is the route we want to reach,” he said, but the speed at which the country travels that path is only at some point in the future, via its defense capabilities plan. It will be revealed.
The plan, Defense Minister Judith Collins, said it was months away from its release. We will set priorities including spending for the next 15-20 years.
New Zealand currently has the lowest defensive spending of any of the five eye countries, a group that includes the UK, the US, Australia and Canada.
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New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Laxon took to the Australian Parliament Building in Canberra, Australia on August 16, 2024. Traceynia Me/Pool/Getty Image
In response to pressure from Canadian President Trump, he pledged earlier this month to accelerate spending to 2% over two years, rather than on previous plans.
The Prime Minister hopes that NZ will be “respected all over the world.”
Luxon said as the government puts more money in, “We want to make sure we have a really good strategy, some of which are making sure we can operate very well with, say, Australia. It’s that we have some real abilities that are respected all over the world.”
The country’s defense spending has been steadily decreasing since the 1960s, with a short rise in the early 1980s.
New Zealand’s Reduced Forces
Royal NZ Air Force (RNZAF) has no fighter jets after the government of the day decided to discard the aging Skyhawks in 2001 and not replace them.
Currently, we only operate transport aircraft, various helicopters, and the Boeing P-8A Poseidon. The pilot is trained on a small Beechcraft T-6C TEXAN IIS, a single-engine propeller plane.
The Royal NZ Navy (RNZN) has improved a little, with eight ships in its fleet, some with weapons.
Frigates and offshore patrol ships have been assigned for replacement in 2030. In other words, the government faces large capital costs that are enough to maintain the status quo.
In 2022, the Ministry of Defense issued a request for information to replace almost the entire naval fleet, saying, “a unique opportunity to consider alternative methods of manipulation and operation, rather than taking an exchange-like approach. And an alternative approach to supporting the fleet in future defense capabilities plans.”
Military experts say there is a clear signal that New Zealand would consider purchasing a general-purpose frigate class ship aimed at the Royal Navy of the Australian Navy. Using the same design promotes interaction and provides economies of scale.
Funding increases, but cuts increase too
Last year, the government announced it would increase its defence spending of $571 million over the next four years.
However, this is set for government leadership across the public sector, in order to significantly reduce $1.5 billion a year. The Ministry of Defense must find 7.5% in savings, while the Defense Forces are told to implement 6.5% savings.
Former National Defense Force Air Kevin Short said it presented the potential impact of a 6.5% reduction on Minister Collins.
“To absorb more than what I call trimming… from management, travel, contractors, etc… we have no maintenance on infrastructure for major platforms. We’re starting to stop maintenance,” he warned.
To go further, the defense forces “have to sell themselves of their capabilities,” Short said.
“New Zealand’s strategic isolation is less clear in its acceptance of wellington’s parliamentary cyberattacks, large-scale rivalry in Antarctica and the country’s acceptance of exposing the country’s trade routes,” he says.
“The daily global conflict function of Kiwis’ screens shows that the world is a more dangerous place and foreign policy needs to change. It is understood that step-ups will be at the expense of it.”
