Defence of country and interests top priority in public submissions

Public submissions on the long-term future of the Defence Force have been assessed and the "defence white paper" review is scheduled to be complete by the end of September.

Associate Defence Minister Heather Roy yesterday morning publicly released the summary of more than 600 submissions on the defence review, and a defence assessment will go to the Cabinet by the end of this month.

The discussion paper on the future of the Defence Force raised questions about prioritisation, international cooperation, strategic operations, the use of the military for non-military purposes, recruitment, retention and training, and the level of capability needed.

Ms Roy said submissions came from individuals, businesses, local government and a range of organisations.

"Submitters held a range of views in respect of whether New Zealand is likely to be in a benign or unstable security environment over the next 35 years," the executive summary of submissions said.

Virtually all agreed that the defence of New Zealand and its interests was top priority, and in addition to military roles and security-related roles such as exclusive economic zone patrols.

Most also saw significant roles for the Defence Force working with a range of government agencies in civil defence and humanitarian relief.

While many thought the Defence Force should be able to support coalition and relief efforts around the world, more thought the balance needed to be toward the Asia-Pacific and/or South Pacific regions.

Australia was seen as the main defence partner and there were calls for closer military ties. Many wanted greater co-operation with the United States.

"While there are many differing views on how our defence capabilities should be configured, I am very heartened to find little dissent within the public submissions, in terms of the need for a strong, agile and balanced force," Ms Roy said.

She said Defence Secretary John McKinnon would submit the defence assessment to the Cabinet. This would be followed by three "companion studies" and the Defence White Paper was scheduled to be complete by the end of September.

- NZPA