Hon Dr Wayne Mapp
Minister of Defence
21 April 2009 Speech notes

EDITORS: Here are Hon Mapp’s speech notes from today’s announcement of the Terms of Reference for Defence Review 09 - see earlier release

This is the first major review of Defence since the 1997 Defence
Review and the Defence Beyond 2000 Inquiry by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee. It is time for a fresh look.

Even though we are a small country our region covers 15% of the world’s surface. During the past decade there has been much more uncertainty in our own region. The NZDF is stretched to meet existing commitments.

We need to be able to act to assist states in our region, and we need to work with Australia to protect our region. Our Defence forces therefore must be primarily focused on these needs. Outside of our region we will always take a niche approach in concert with friends and allies.

These demands require looking carefully at the range of options for the best future configuration of the Defence Force.

The Review will therefore look carefully at what we expect of Defence over the next decade or so. It will consider how well the current capabilities line up with what we actually do, and what we might expect to do in the future.

There have been major problems over the past decade in the procurement of new capabilities. These problems were highlighted by the Auditor-General’s report of 2008. Defence capabilities and infrastructure have been run-down.

This Review will take a fresh look at how we manage the Defence Force. Over the next decade, many of our existing capabilities will be coming towards the end of their lives. Decisions about replacements or alternatives will need to be made during the next ten years. These decisions impact on the Defence Force for decades, so we must be sure they are the right ones.

We will also need to carefully manage finite resources. Over the past 15 years Defence expenditure has been around 1% of GDP. We need to find more effective ways of managing the Defence budget.

To assist the Associate Minister and myself we have established an advisory panel of three outside experts. They are:

• Simon Murdoch, soon to retire as Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade;
• Martyn Dunne, formerly Commander Joint Forces New Zealand and now head of Customs; and
• Rob McLeod, managing partner of Ernst & Young.

They will use their collective expertise to advise on the range of issues, and assist both Ministers and the Secretary of Defence in this regard.

The Defence Review will include public consultation and three companion studies to be undertaken by the Associate Minister. She will comment on these aspects of the Review.

ENDS

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