New Zealand Defence Minister Judith Collins is to re-assess the recent defence review to ensure it keeps a wider strategic focus.
The Defence Policy and Strategic Statement (DPSS) and the accompanying Future Force Design Principles (FFDP) are the first two elements of New Zealand’s defence review, which were released in August 2023 under the previous Labour government.
But since the National Party-led coalition government took office in October 2023 it has become responsible for delivering the next parts of the review, including the Defence Capability Plan (DCP), which will set down priority procurement plans and funding for future New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) capabilities.
“I am looking to see whether or not [the DPSS] is quite fit for what we see for the next year or so few years. But I am also aware we have the upcoming DCP and we need to look at those together rather than isolation,” Collins told ADM.
Although it has been barely more than six months since the release of the DPSS, Collins believes that some modifications will be necessary.
“Strangely enough things have changed in that period of time,” she said, “What they have put out was OK, there is some good stuff in [the DPSS], but we need to constantly be aware that everything is changing pretty fast.”
She added: “I am not arguing with the work done in the strategy statement, but I do think there needs to be a little bit more focus on some of the emerging threats that we see.”
The DPSS put a strong emphasis on the need for New Zealand to focus on the Pacific region and on the impact of climate change. This reinforces the ‘Pacific Re-set’ direction that was first announced in the Defence Strategy and Policy Statement (DSPS) in 2018.
Despite this, New Zealand in the past two year has increased commitments to training Ukrainian Army soldiers in Europe, providing three training teams of about 100 soldiers to assist the UK’s efforts. Then in January 2024 six personnel were sent to assist maritime security efforts in the Red Sea. These are large commitments for a small defence force.
“The Pacific is very, very, important and New Zealand is a Pacific nation,” she added. “[But] is it the NZDF’s job to be responsible for the ramifications or effects of climate change, which are going to add quite significantly to defence’s role in the Pacific.”
Despite the Pacific focus of the past two defence reviews, Collins said: “It is also important to understand that we cannot live in benign isolation at the bottom of the Pacific. We are global trading country and we are affected by what is happening in the Red Sea and in Ukraine, not just from a military point of view but in terms of standing up for democratic values. Wars in Europe end up having an effect in New Zealand.”
As a result Collins has accelerated the delivery of the DCP bringing it forward from September to June and this will give some insight into the direction the NZDF will take in terms of future equipment acquisition programmes planned for the military.
“We have some new equipment on its way, but I would also like to see significantly more effort and focus on Artificial Intelligence, in terms of understanding what is happening in the world,” Collins said.
“And I would like to see more focus on uncrewed systems. There has already been some change in defence on that but I want to see more.”
She explained that when talking to counterparts in the Pacific one of the biggest issues is illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.
“That is one of sorts of things we need to do better on as we have the sixth largest maritime economic zone in the world, we have responsibilities and I am looking to see how we can use technology to do a better job on this. This was where I found the strategy statement a little lacking was not quite enough focus on emergent technologies and our ability to use them for good,” she said.
Meanwhile New Zealand’s Foreign Minister, Winston Peters, who was one of the architects of the 2018 DSPS Pacific Re-set has been busy with international meetings. He announced the completion of 86 engagements with 53 foreign representatives within the first 100 days of taking office.
Peters’ recent visits include Fiji, Australia, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands, with his next stops in March to include India, Indonesia and Singapore.
Anna Powles, Associate Professor at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University told ADM that NZ defence and foreign policy and the minister “are in close alignment on the strategic challenges NZ is facing.”
“NZ's Pacific partnerships are broad and multifaceted and demand the three Ds - diplomacy, development and defence. There is a 4th ‘D’ - deterrence - which is increasingly part of NZ's Pacific policy and which requires all tools of statecraft,” she said.
“Foreign Minister Peters has focussed his attention on the Pacific partly because there was a perception that his predecessor hadn’t been consistently visible and present in the Pacific and also because he is seeking to make his mark on NZ Pacific policy as he did with the 2018 Pacific Reset.”