Editorial: Air base madness

The Minister of Defence and the Chief of Air Staff were like a champion stunt-flying duo as they announced the closure of the Whenuapai air base. In perfect formation, they talked of efficiency gains, economic benefit and the elimination of duplication. It was as if they were heralding a corporate merger, not the risky strategy of placing all the Air Force's eggs in one basket at Ohakea, and not confirmation that the Defence Force's emasculated air wing would now be no more than a servant of the Army's endeavours at Waiouru and Linton.

Defence strategy should be about retaining options. Base duplication offers a safeguard in a volatile world. Even if defence policy were to be driven by efficiencies, Whenuapai's closure makes no sense. It means the Air Force is removed from the immediate area of Auckland, the most likely scene of a terrorist attack, and the Pacific, where it undertakes much of its work. It is not efficient to increase flying time to those areas.

Whenuapai should have been retained as a civil-military airfield. At least, the option of it becoming Auckland's second civilian airport would have been retained. The region's burgeoning population suggests that is a sensible precaution. But with the Air Force gone, it seems more likely that Whenuapai will be subdivided for housing. That, of course, would represent the ultimate gain for the Government coffers. But if cost-cutting was the motive, why not take the far more sensible step of shifting the Air Force's northern operations to Mangere? The answer perhaps lies in the Government's other agenda: the systematic reduction in New Zealand's combat capability.

Herald feature: Defence