Editor’s Note

Kia Ora and welcome to the Winter 2021 – and 20th – issue of Line of Defence. We’re in a celebratory mood as this issue is also our 5th Anniversary edition!

It was in mid-2015 that the editorial team at New Zealand Security Magazine started working on an idea for a New Zealand defence and national security magazine. We were conscious of the lack of a local publication catering for both a public and private sector defence and security readership.

We approached the then NZDIA Chair Bernie Diver, who was supportive of the idea, and with his blessing we turned up at the 2015 NZDIA Annual Forum in Wellington with a hurriedly constructed media kit, high hopes, and low expectations.

Five years after our inaugural issue in April 2016, 20 issues of Line of Defence have now been published. By any measure, the magazine has firmly established itself as a respected source of specialised news and analysis for the sector.

There are many organisations and people who have contributed to Line of Defence’s success, and they are too numerous to list here. Of special note is the NZDF and Ministry of Defence, the NZDIA and Massey University’s Centre for Defence and Security Studies.

I’d also like to pay tribute to our longest standing sponsoring partner, General Atomics Aeronautical (GA-ASI) who, along with a select group of fellow sponsors, has played an important role in supporting kiwi defence and security journalism. Thank you to AVM (Retd) Warren Ludwig AM and his team.

A special note of thanks also to our editor-at-large, Dr Peter Greener, who has lent credibility to many issues of the magazine with his series of Service Chiefs interviews; our most prolific commentator Hon Dr Wayne Mapp QSO; and regular commentator Dr John Battersby.

In this special anniversary edition of Line of Defence, it is an absolute pleasure to be featuring a 10-page Spotlight on Canada segment with insights into the Canadian defence industry and some of its most impressive players, including PAL Aerospace, Telemus Systems, and Maerospace.

In another Line of Defence first, we’re proud to be featuring an interview by Dr Greener of New Zealand’s Minister of Defence Hon Peeni Henare MP. We are delighted that the Minister has chosen to be interviewed exclusively by us for our readers.

Lastly, I’d like to acknowledge the service to the sector of Jennie Vickers, who recently moved on from her position as CEO of the NZDIA. It is fitting that this issue of the magazine benefits from two fine contributions by her.

I commend the above articles to you, along with the many other fine contributions inside.

Nicholas Dynon Auckland

Chief Editor: : Nicholas Dynon; M: +64 (0)22 366 3691; nick@defsec.net.nz