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Defence Minister Wayne Mapp - Source: Breakfast -
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Defence Minister Wayne Mapp says the revamp of the Defence Force will bolster up the frontline and won't mean cuts to it.
The Defence Force yesterday released a $3 billion wish list of projects and equipment for the next 10 years aimed at developing a joint amphibious task force.
With no extra funding allocated for the shopping list, cuts will have to be made in other areas of the Defence budget.
Labour says it wants the Government to explain what that will mean for the overall number of New Zealand troops and their capability, and what cuts will be made to the Defence Force under the spending plan.
Mapp told TV ONE's Breakfast today that in relation to the frontline and the operationally deployed troops "the effort is going right there".
He said that as announced last year, back office roles are being changed and it's not really sensible for people working in stores, IT and salaries to be in uniform for example.
"A lot of those jobs can be done by civilians, and in many cases people coming to the end of a military deployable career are choosing to shift into civilian roles."
Asked if that means a guarantee there'll be no cuts to frontline roles, Mapp said: "Well that's the whole point. The frontline is being bolstered up through this plan."
The plan outlines a number of new projects including new pilot training, upgrading the Anzac frigate systems, upgrading or replacing the Seasprite maritime helicopter and a special forces battle training facility.
Asked how Defence can spend $3 billion over the next 10 years but not inject any new money, Mapp said it will be done through depreciation.
"Like when Air New Zealand has to replace its airplanes, it's getting depreciation on its existing aeroplanes. That money's accumulated and spent to replace those aeroplanes.
"It's not a tax write-off, it's something you have to account for with the fact that your equipment wears out. And that is the source of the money over the next 10 years anyway."
He said beyond that, there will need to be additional capital put in.
"We've thought this though. We've got a plan that's sustainable over the next 10 years."
Mapp said improvements to the frigates will see an upgrade of their computer and radar systems, which are 15 years old.
He said there will be some new aircraft for the Air Force, some trucks, and a whole computer system that ties all three services together.
The joint amphibious taskforce project is intended to be for the Pacific region, he said.
"If you think of the tsunami, the earthquakes, the cyclones and so forth, you have to have the Navy, the Canterbury in particular, helicopters, transport, aircraft, medics, engineers and so forth all working together, all tied in.
"The whole amphibious project is to get the Defence Force working as a single team."
Mapp said a lot of work had been done towards that already, but the plan was to take it to the next level.
