New Zealand First is appalled at the level of naivety displayed by the Government as evidenced by its Defence Report released today, said Ron Mark MP, Defence Spokesman.

“Possibly the greatest threat to our country, a small independent sovereign State, lies at this moment in the threat created by the thought that there simply is no threat!

“New Zealand does hold a good deal of interest to several nations due to its natural wealth, strategic location, its sparsely populated lands and even climate. We are in every sense a significant food producer to the world.

“To diminish our Airforce and Navy to what is merely a fisheries monitoring role, ignores the lessons taught to us throughout our short history and serves to signal to others that as we see no risk to our security, we are ripe for the taking,” Mr Mark continued.

“$2 billion over 10 years is not sufficient to meet our Defence requirements and obligations to our neighbours within our region, and our country’s defence plan must match our economic plan for ongoing growth,” claimed Mr Mark.

“What is proposed within the report is the most minimal possible and spending on our Defence requirements must move to at least 2% of our gross domestic product without delay.

“There are three fundamental tenets to a successful democracy; an independent Judiciary to administer our laws, a fair and honest Police service to deal with unrest or disorder within our borders and a well equipped and trained military Defence Force to deter others from without” he said.

“The Government through this somewhat weak report, has placed one of those most fundamental ingredients in jeopardy,” concluded Mr Mark.

Ends.

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>