Labour must change defence attitude
National’s Defence spokesman, John Carter, says Labour must change its whole focus on defence.
He is commenting after today’s Government announcement on defence.
“This package by itself isn’t going to work.
“Spending money is not the only thing that has to happen to make sure the defence forces have enough people.
“This Government has taken us into an isolationist, peace-keeping mode that does nothing to attract people who want to
get involved in active defence of our nation.
“National will re-establish our armed services as credible contributors to not only peace-keeping but also peace
enforcement where required, and that sort of environment is what attracts people to defence forces.
“Labour is playing catch-up with this package.
“They forced our Air Force personnel out of their jobs when they disbanded the strike wing and now they have now
discovered they are short of personnel. They are playing catch-up on an issue they themselves created.
“And now they can’t attract enough crews to drive our $700 million LAV fleet.
“This is no discredit to the people already in the armed services – they do a great job. We just need more of them,” Mr
Carter says.
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