Amidst cuts to public services to eliminate “wasteful spending”, the rapidly escalating climate emergency and the
desperate need for increased funding for failing social services, at least $5,790,195,000 of military spending was
allocated in Budget 2024 - an average of more than $111.3 million every week. [1]
While this is a small decrease from the actual amount of military spending over the past year, it illustrates that the
government remains stuck in the same old thinking about ‘security’, choosing to focus on an outdated narrow concept of
military security rather than real security that gives all New Zealanders the chance to flourish.
It is shameful that public funding for combat-ready armed forces continues to be a spending priority when there are so
many other major issues facing Aotearoa: the urgent need for climate action and assistance for communities impacted by
severe weather events, the shameful levels of poverty and social inequality, the lack of affordable housing, the failing
health system and substandard hospital buildings, the lack of support for persons with disabilities, and a range of
other areas requiring urgent attention. Military spending negatively impacts all of these by diverting resources that
could be put to better use.
One example of the comparative cost of prioritising funding for combat-ready armed forces to keep New Zealand bound to
the global cycle of violence, is the funding allocated for initiatives to eliminate family violence and sexual violence
here in Aotearoa - less than 0.34% of the amount of military spending in this Budget.
While diplomacy and negotiation are clearly more positive ways for New Zealand to relate to communities in other parts
of the world than deploying combat-ready armed forces overseas, the total allocated for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(including overseas development assistance and international climate financing) is less than one-third of the amount
allocated for military spending.
Pacific leaders have repeatedly stated that the escalating climate emergency is the single biggest security threat to
the region, but New Zealand continues to ignore that reality and refuses to move away from the destructive deadly
ideology of militarism which harms the future of humanity and the planet. Combat capability cannot stop the rising
tides, or protect us from catastrophic climate change: military activity is the ultimate in damaging unsustainability,
with military emissions estimated to be at least 5.5% of the global total.
We urgently need to transition from combat-ready armed forces to civilian agencies that meet the wider security needs of
all New Zealanders and our Pacific neighbours. Given New Zealand’s comparatively limited resources, it simply makes no
sense to continue to spend billions on combat equipment and military activities every year.
Fisheries and resource protection, border control, and maritime search and rescue could be better done by a civilian
coastguard with inshore and offshore capabilities, equipped with a range of vehicles, vessels and aircraft that are
suitable for our coastline, Antarctica and the Pacific, which - along with equipping civilian agencies for land-based
search and rescue, and for humanitarian assistance here and overseas - would be a much cheaper option as none of these
require expensive combat hardware. [2]
That would also surely be a more useful contribution than New Zealand continuing to be involved in destructive
full-scale combat assaults on land and sea through day-to-day military training, and military ‘exercises’ such as RIMPAC
that are not only costly, but also harmful to the environment, marine and other life, while increasing New Zealand’s
climate-destroying emissions and wasting non-renewable resources.
New Zealand could - and should - be leading the way to a positive future. Instead of continuing down the path of
spending billions every year and even more over the next decade for increased combat capability, including new military
aircraft and warships, this is an opportune time to choose a new and better way forward.
A transition from combat-ready armed forces to civilian agencies, along with increased funding for diplomacy, climate
justice and social justice, would ensure New Zealand makes a far more positive contribution to wellbeing and security
here in Aotearoa and at the regional and global levels, than it can by continuing to maintain and re-arm small but
ridiculously expensive armed forces.
Military spending is a clearly identifiable area for enduring savings, and reducing it substantially was absolutely
essential to achieve a Budget that really does eliminate wasteful spending: failing to do that is a sadly missed
opportunity to lay better, stronger foundations for the future.
References
[1] This is the total across the three Budget Votes where most military expenditure is itemised: Vote Defence Force
$4,949,199,000; Vote Defence $839,820,000; and Vote Education $1,176,000.
[2] For more information about the multiple costs of maintaining combat-ready armed forces and better ways forward, see
‘Submission on Budget 2023 Policy’, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 24 April 2024, at www.converge.org.nz/pma/budget-policy-sub,april2024.pdf and ‘Submission: Defence Policy Review’, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 29 April 2023, http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/def-rev-sub,apr23.pdf