Labour's welfare spokesperson Steve Maharey said Labour did not support compulsory military training.
He was commenting on a New Zealand First Policy promoting compulsory military service for all 18-year-old males.
"It's out of date and inappropriate - both for society and for the armed forces themselves," Steve Maharey said.
"As illustrated with the Army's involvement in peace keeping in East Timor, New Zealand has a modern professional force.
Military recruits need to see their involvement as a career choice, not something they are press ganged into.
"It is not the role of our military forces to provide national services for all young people and I do not believe they
currently have the capacity to do so, even if they wished to.
"Labour strongly believes that no young person should leave school without real options in jobs, education or training
but compulsion is not the answer.
"Instead, we believed this will be achieved through a range of measures including lower costs to education, job creation
in regions, beefed up training opportunities like our modern apprenticeship system," Steve Maharey said.