Ron Mark: Former Defence Minister on the Government's new $12 billion defence budget

Former Defence Minister Ron Mark's toasting the coalition Government following a commitment to more defence spending. 

It's pouring $12 billion over four years into defence – $9 billion of which is new spending.  

It includes enhancing our strike capabilities, replacing the Boeing 757 fleet, and upgrading our javelin anti-tank missiles. 

Mark told Mike Hosking it will be good for New Zealand's strategic partners. 

He says it will provide security comfort for South Pacific Defence Ministers, Five Eyes, and NATO. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just keeping an eye on the White House, nitnya, who's there.
They just canceled the press conference, which is never a
good sign. They look like they'll speak from the yellow chairs,
which is limited questions. So I don't know whether anything's
gone wrong there, but will keep you posted obviously. Now
back home, what a day for the military. It's all
onto the tune of billions over the next handful of
years as the government looks to return us to some

(00:21):
sort of operative credibility twelve billion over four years by
twenty twenty eight, spending at a credible two percent of
our GDP. Former Defence Min's to Ron Mike well us
Ron morning.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Good morning, Mike, how are you very well? Thank you?
You like it. I'm toasting the coalition government. I have
to say that, and I've got to say, Mike, I
can I can see the fingerprints of the coalition partners
all over this. It says wonderful news and I have
no doubt Judith Collins has been very grateful for support
of Winston Peters month.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
So you're saying Peter's an active nudge national this way, Well,
I think.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
It's very clear if you go right back to where
they were when they started, and you know, I've always
is disappointment that the past nationals had to have of
writing wonderful plans. But you know, as we used to
say in the Diving World, plan to dive and dive
the plan, the plan's not worth anything if you don't
an act and enable it with money. And this time,
you know they have all all three of them have

(01:15):
come out guns blazing so to speak, and put the
money and they're put up this.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
Plays well will their allies?

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Oh look, this will play well with our strategic partners globally.
I mean, I'm thinking right now us see in the
FPDA and the Indo Pacific, I'm thinking of security comfort.
There will be that the South Pacific Ense Minister. It
will get five eyes also and NATO can't forget NATO.
But it's also going to enhance the Prime Minister and

(01:44):
the Minister Foreign Affairs ability to secure our economic huture.
You can't have prosperity without security, and right now we're
living in possibly the most insecure times that we've seen
since the Second World War.

Speaker 1 (01:59):
Do you worry about the big picture of labor and
the Greens get back in they're a bit anti military?
Or is this bulletproof, not do you a year.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
I do, Mike, and I think the thing I learned,
if you want to make your capability plan bulletproof, you
get the contracts done and just as fast as you
possibly can, and then it makes it very hard for
them to turn things around. I think it's going to
put labor in a bit of a buying because they
made a lot of fuss about the fact that you're
under their watch. They did all this investment. Well, you know,
they had their firmly shoved up their back, let's be

(02:28):
clear about that. But it's something different when you look
at their track report between twenty and twenty when they
had ultimate power themselves in twenty twenty three, they squashed
pretty much everything that I had lined up for the
next Trianium and that set us backwards. So what this
announcement does is it redresses that failure of that three

(02:48):
years that accelerates forward within twelve billions. Was it nine
billion going over the next four years? No, twelve billion
over the next four years and nine billion dollars of
new money. The real is going to come and what
the Prime Minister identified and then stand up after the
after cabinet that you can't have platforms and capability if

(03:09):
you don't have confident, capable and experienced personnel as well,
and that's going to be the big challenge.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
Yes, we'll appreciate the insight ron ron mark form of
defense ministers. For more from the Mic Asking Breakfast, listen
live to news talks.

Speaker 2 (03:21):
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