Ex-chief savages defence policy

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN, assistant editor

Former Chief of Defence Force Carey Adamson has attacked the Government's focus on peace-keeping, saying it is depriving the military of essential training.

And he says defence policy is being decided "on the run".

The Labour-led Government has sent forces to Afghanistan, committed soldiers to the reconstruction of postwar Iraq and is assisting an Australian-led mission to end unrest in the Solomon Islands.

"What worries me is that we seem to be going pretty heavily on peacekeeping, but we're not doing a lot of the professional training episodes," Air Marshal Adamson said.

"If you're throwing away training just so you can go and do some peacekeeping - which does not require a lot of military skills - then the overall capability starts winding down."

Air Marshal Adamson also attacked Government secrecy around defence issues.

"I was always being accused of leaks," he said. . "If things got into the media it was, 'What's all this about?"'

"But if there was more information coming out in the first place, you wouldn't have all the questions coming back to establish the most basic things like, 'What are we going for, how and why?"'

He said New Zealand should have a proper debate about defence, with an opportunity for the public to contribute.

"The Australians have a new policy for how they want to conduct business in the South Pacific," he said. "But all ours is done on the run."

Defence Minister Mark Burton has rejected Official Information Act requests for advice Air Marshal Adamson gave during the 27 months he served Labour ministers, claiming it would hinder the process of "free and frank advice".

Air Marshal Adamson, who resigned as the country's top military man in February last year after his three-year term expired, said an urgent defence review was needed.

"We used to have a policy where we would send only formed units overseas, rather than 50 here, 80 there," he said.

"We seem to be scattering our people all over the place, which is great from a PR point of view, but I'm not entirely sure what it does for the military.

"If you're going to take part you've got to have the resources to do it, and if you are really serious about getting out and doing things globally then we need to structure ourselves and equip ourselves to do it because we can't do it in the penny-pinching way we do it now."



A defence acquisition programme out of step with New Zealand's allies had left the military exposed.

The Government axed the Air Force's combat wing and dropped plans for a third Anzac frigate.

"If you need air support you have to rely on someone else," he said.

"And those people don't have the excess capacity any more to look after mates who've decided they didn't need to have it."

Air Marshal Adamson said that if New Zealand wanted a totally independent foreign policy it also needed a totally independent defence force.

"The first thing we have to do is to at least double the defence vote."

In a forthright interview for the Herald In the National Interest series, Air Marshal Adamson said: "No one really knows what we are up to here. All we know is that we are nuclear-free and everyone waves a flag.

"We do good works around the world - shifting mines in Iraq is very good stuff - but how does it enhance the defence of New Zealand?

"Is it because we're trying to stack up some credits so if the evil day comes all those people we've helped will then help us?

"A bit thin really."