20 March 2000

Greens welcome F-16 decision

The Green Party have congratulated the Government for cancelling the F-16 contract.

"The F-16s would be a white elephant, irrelevant to our real defence needs," said Green Party defence spokesperson Keith Locke.

"We're glad the Government will also be looking at the future of the skyhawks.

"The failure to purchase the F-16s effectively dooms the skyhawks. The Greens don't wish to prolong the pain by keeping the skyhawks operating in their twilight years," he said.

"In the more than 30 years we have had the skyhawks they have never once been used in an operation.

"New Zealand's air combat force costs around $200 million a year. This money would be better used upgrading our peacekeeping capability," said Mr Locke.

Ends

Keith Locke MP: 025 528 353, 09 630 0789 (hm)

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