Kerre Woodham: There is absolutely no point in having a Defence Force if there is no investment in it

A huge boost for our defence forces, with pay rates being boosted by $4000 to 15,000 over 4 years and a three $128 million upgrade of New Zealand Defence Force assets and infrastructure.

I confess, I'm surprised it's happened under this Labour government. It sounded as though it came as a bit of a surprise to the Defence Force and political commentators like former Defence Minister Ron Mark.

This year's budget has been pitched by the Prime Minister as a no-frills budget, and rightly so given the parlous state of New Zealand's economy.

But the Prime Minister says the dedicated women and men of our defence forces were one group of New Zealanders whose wages had lagged behind.

He says not only is it unfair, it's leading to significant rates of attrition. It's not just the poor pay, of course. Defence Force personnel hated working MIQ and many left as a result of being assigned to guarding hotels.

Defence Minister Andrew Little said the funding boost would mean 90 per cent of New Zealand Defence Force personnel would now be paid at, or close to, market rates, and improving the lot of servicemen and women had been his top priority since he took over the portfolio.

There is absolutely no point in having a Defence Force if there is no investment in it.

You cannot pay lip service to a Defence Force.

The funding announced today will take the overall spend as a percentage of GDP to about 1%, according to Little. And while that may not sound like a lot, it's a lot more than other countries in their OECD spend, apart of course from the US.

If you have a Defence Force, you have to commit to it.

The men and women in the forces have to feel valued, and this announcement will go a long way towards improving morale and making a career in the defence seem like a viable option.

In 2022, Defence Force recruitment numbers were below targets, as recruiters battled a strong civilian labour market and a high attrition rate.

Defence Force targets for 2022 were 935 across the Navy, Army and Air Force as of March 2022 enlistments were just 396.

Just like everyone, the Defence Force’s in a competition for talent. And without being able to pay anywhere near the market rate, it was a competition they were losing. Now they're back in the game.

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