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Source: ONE News -
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Questions are being raised about the Government's commitment to the Defence Force after a survey revealed staff are not happy.
Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman has admitted that Defence Force morale has "taken a bit of a hit" in the past year, but said that it is to be expected with the axing of 300 uniformed jobs and cost-cutting.
The NZDF Ongoing Attitude Survey, completed late last year but
only released to the media this week, shows Defence Force morale
has fallen to its lowest point in eight years and the number of
people wanting to leave the military is higher than it was two
years ago.
Labour's defence spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway said Defence Force
personnel understand that change has to occur, but they feel let
down by Government and feel like they are taken for granted.
"High attrition means the NZDF is losing experience that cannot be easily replaced," he said.
"If morale continues to drop and more deployable staff are lost, the NZDF will really struggle to meet operational expectations."
But Coleman has hit back, telling TV ONE's Breakfast today that "to say that the Government is not committed to the Defence Force is absolutely incorrect".
"While the morale has taken a bit of a hit that's to be expected with the change programme, but I'm expecting that to improve over time," he said.
"The first thing you have to do is put this survey into perspective - in actual fact 80% in NZDF rate their morale as satisfactory and 80% of them say they are happy with their jobs."
However, an avionics technician in the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) said he was not surprised by how low morale figures are.
"Morale is very low where I work and a lot of experienced people are leaving," he said.
He said there seems to be "a lot of double standards" in the RNZAF.
"It's noticeable that aircrew have it better. It's only five and half years for them to be cleared for sergeant and for us, the technicians, the people that fix the systems, we aren't even cleared for corporal."
He said benefits in the Defence Force are being taken away, including housing for personnel in Hobsonville.
"Pay needs to improve, especially for corporals and sergeants, as they have the higher responsibility."
But Coleman claims complaints about pay are not unusual.
"If you went to any New Zealand work force in any industry or Government area, any private area you'd find complaints about pay and complaints about people moving through the work force."
"The Defence Force has never been something that people have gone into specifically for pay."
Tough decisions
The Chief of Defence Force Lieutenant General Richard Rhys Jones has admitted "tough decisions" have unsettled staff.
The Government's call originally was to make back office cuts to help the Defence Force find over $350 million in annual savings by 2015.
But, figures obtained by ONE News last week showed that the axe has fallen on 485 Defence Force positions in the last year and 295 of those made redundant were in uniform positions.
The latest survey shows pride in belonging to the forces has dropped dramatically after staff lost their jobs.
The survey showed that there is increasing discontent over pay and working conditions, with around half the 1179 who took part in the survey feeling that the military had the equipment needed to perform well in operations.
The survey also shows levels of commitment have fallen, and the drop in morale is expected to have flow-on effects on performance and attrition.
Jones said he is committed to improving morale.
