KEY POINTS:
Defence Force personnel should be given a substantial pay rise from the Government's $8.7 billion surplus, New Zealand First MP Ron Mark said today.
"For an amount that would make a tiny dent in the piles of cash, the Government could give our Defence Force personnel the meaningful pay rise that has been long overdue," he said.
"Our troops are vastly underpaid given the service they provide our nation."
Mr Mark, New Zealand First defence spokesman and a former army officer, said privates on basic training at Waiouru were being paid less than the minimum wage for the hours they worked.
"The Government has seen fit to give substantial pay rises to nurses, doctors, police and teachers yet our troops have received miserly increases that have barely kept pace with inflation," he said.
"The Defence Force is also suffering from a personnel shortage and has an annual attrition rate of around 13 per cent."
Mr Mark said Finance Minister Michael Cullen seemed to be struggling to find ways to spend his huge surplus.
"I would like to help him out."
- NZPA
