20 March 2000
Greens welcome F-16 decision
The Green Party have congratulated the Government for cancelling the F-16 contract.
"The F-16s would be a white elephant, irrelevant to our real defence needs," said Green Party defence spokesperson Keith
Locke.
"We're glad the Government will also be looking at the future of the skyhawks.
"The failure to purchase the F-16s effectively dooms the skyhawks. The Greens don't wish to prolong the pain by keeping
the skyhawks operating in their twilight years," he said.
"In the more than 30 years we have had the skyhawks they have never once been used in an operation.
"New Zealand's air combat force costs around $200 million a year. This money would be better used upgrading our
peacekeeping capability," said Mr Locke.
Ends
Keith Locke MP: 025 528 353, 09 630 0789 (hm)