John Battersby: The balancing act between our economy and our alliances - Politics Central

The Government has announced a $2.7 billion defence spending boost to upgrade the aircraft fleet. 

The money will be spent on five Seahawk helicopters and two Airbus aircrafts, to replace the Defence Force's "embarrassing" planes, in Judith Collins' words. 

It's part of National's pledge to boost defence spending by $9 billion over the next four years, but why now? 

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