DEFENCE
More frontline troops to respond to crises in region The people of the NZDF are highly trained and effective, and above all they’re culturally aware and empathetic. They add value wherever they go. But for too long, writes Minister of Defence Ron Mark, they’ve been stretched too thinly. I recently travelled to Timor-Leste for the 20th anniversary of INTERFET. 20 years ago the people of Timor-Leste were under attack from militia forces following the vote for independence. The intervention by a multi-national force of peacekeepers managed to stabilise the situation and put TimorLeste on a path to peace and prosperity. There have been a few speed bumps on the way, but I’m happy to report that from what I saw Timor-Leste is a nation going from strength to strength. Back in the days of INTERFET New Zealand deployed an entire
battalion, which we rotated six times. The Air Force deployed helicopters, as well as transport aircraft and our Navy sent the frigates Te Kaha and Canterbury and the tanker Endeavour. We were a vital and valued component in the peacekeeping effort. However, since those days our Defence Force, and in particular our reserves, have been run down to a point committing a force of that strength for that length of time would be a difficult task. There are many reasons why we’ve got to this point. But, what’s important is we have a
plan to fix it. One of the key parts of the recently released Defence Capability Plan 2019 is a goal to increase the number of personnel in the Army to 6,000 by 2035. This will be mainly at the frontline level. We also plan to steadily increase the numbers we have in the Navy to meet the demands of the new ships we plan to bring online in the next 10 years. Our people are our strength and for too long the frontlines of our Defence Force have been neglected in favour of back office functions. The civilianisation project led by the National Government
Personnel from No. 3 Squadron and 162 Reconnaissance Squadron painting Holbelis village school. Photo: Supplied / NZDF
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Line of Defence
