Editorial: Effective defence vital for security

Perhaps it is our isolation or perhaps our national consciousness now entertains a pacifist tendency, a consort of the anti-nuclear sentiment we embraced towards the end of last century. Either way, most New Zealanders appear unwilling to heed the warnings of defence and foreign affairs experts about the emaciation of the country's armed forces. A Government of peacenik persuasion has reason to reckon that defence cutbacks will cost it few votes at the ballot box. On the contrary, it believes the cuts could be a substantial help if the money saved can be shown to have improved health, education and other social services. When defence spending priorities are being assessed, therefore, virtually anything is on the table.

This can be as outlandish, it seems, as considering handing over the border security of an island nation to an Australian private company. This company's modest De Havilland Dashes would take over the maritime surveillance duties of the Air Force Orions. There is a contorted logic in this if fundamental security and sovereignty issues can somehow be ignored. The Orions have been deprived of a vital upgrade that would have enabled them to operate in tandem with American and Australian aircraft. They will be of extremely limited use for military surveillance. Why, then, not scrap them and hand over their customs and fisheries protection work to non-military aircraft? If an Australian private company is best equipped to do this work, why not let it? Never mind that it is highly unlikely to monitor New Zealand's exclusive zone as efficiently as Orions or that essential skills will be lost.

This sort of thinking, an invitation for scorn in virtually any other area of public interest, is not isolated to maritime surveillance. Earlier this month, the Disarmament Minister questioned whether the Air Force's ageing Skyhawks should be scrapped immediately. With them would go the country's air combat capability. The boutique Army, on which the Government sets such great store, would have to rely for air cover on the fighter aircraft of our allies. Matt Robson's comments, made with the Prime Minister's knowledge, were, in all likelihood, part of a softening-up process. Despite the popular disposition, the Government knows it must tread cautiously. Its decision to scrap a very favourable deal to lease F-16 fighters was received with little demur. But perhaps the loss altogether of the Air Force's strike arm might be enough to arouse all the Rip van Winkles.

It has certainly stirred New Zealand's partner in the Anzac defence relationship. On a recent visit, the Australian Foreign Minister indicated that his country would deplore a rundown of the Defence Force, including any ditching of the Air Force's air combat capability. New Zealand, said Alexander Downer, needed a credible, well-structured and versatile Defence Force, one compatible with that of Australia and able to deal with a range of contingencies. Clearly, Mr Downer did not have in mind a boutique Army so small that it does not have enough regular troops to keep up the East Timor operation.

The Australians are right to feel aggrieved. Good faith dictates that New Zealand pulls its weight in regional security. And never can that have been more important than at a time of increased turbulence in Indonesia and the Pacific. There is now such an air of unpredictability that any cut-price attempt to tailor the Defence Force is unrealistic. A balanced and flexible set of options is, as Mr Downer suggests, the only option. Such is Australia's concern that it decided recently to boost defence spending. The New Zealand Government, for its part, has budgeted spending to shrink from $1.24 billion this year to $1.06 billion in 2004. The systematic rundown of the Air Force's capability and skill base is clearly part of that scenario.

Good government is not just about imposing policies that meet popular approval. Sometimes, it is about meeting a country's genuine needs and obligations, even if they run contrary to partisan re-election concerns. Few of those needs are as significant as external security. This can be guaranteed only by an effective Defence Force which can make a meaningful contribution to regional security. Achieving this need not entail a radical spending increase that would prove unpalatable to many New Zealanders. Forsaking it invites a well-warranted reputation as a freeloader.