Hon Dr Wayne Mapp
Minister of Defence

10 December, 2008

Briefing confirms Labour’s legacy of defence mismanagement

“Labour’s legacy of mismanagement has been laid bare in briefing papers handed to the Incoming Minister of Defence,” says Defence Minister Wayne Mapp.

“Under Labour, rhetoric and reality increasingly diverged. A pragmatic and practical review is essential. Procurement is an area of particular concern, with serious blow-outs and numerous delays. I believe the previous Minister failed to adequately disclose and reflect the importance of these issues.”

The 49-page briefing document sets out the current issues facing defence including the impacts of deployments and the status of capital programmes.

“The New Zealand Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence briefings confirm the urgent need for a White Paper to re-establish credible and sustainable defence directions and priorities.

“Labour’s legacy is a lack of timely capabilities and procurement projects that have not run according to plan.

“This has left us with problems in recruitment and retention, making it difficult for Defence to perform the tasks we require of them.

“In today’s financial climate, maximising the effect of every dollar spent is critical. We have regional and global responsibilities. Unforeseen situations can arise at any time, as the last weeks have shown. Flexibility is key and we need to ensure that our defence forces are relevant to the future.

“We are well served by the men and women of the NZDF. We must work to ensure they have the tools to safely manage the range of tasks we require of them.

“The White Paper process will address the issues identified in the briefing and provide us with a framework for the next decade and beyond.”

The BIM is available at: http://beehive.govt.nz/sites/all/files/Defence_BIM.pdf

ENDS

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