NZDF General discussion thread

[John Fedup]

Are you telling me that all those pollies that vote against health care have already got their own good systemwonder why this is.

...because they are so caring....for themselves. There is a word for them, hypocrites.

 

[Rob c]

Again, id ask, what 'fat' would you cut? I pointed out valuable public sector jobs lost, first year tertiary education And kiwisaver contributions were cut too.And hundreds of millions of dollars in rental increases to beneficiarys in state housing, pensioners included in that mix.

An other point to keep inmind is that NZ (1924 figures) has the lowest personal tax rates in the OECD and a total tax take significantly below the OECD average yet this governmwnt did tax cuts and then complained about a lack of money.

 

[StevoJH]

Yes, that's right. US health spending is very inefficient indeed. Highest admin costs as a share of spending, & highest spending, for example, so admin spending per head is as much as total spending per head in some countries with similar or even better results.

The state options are extraordinarily complicated, which puts up costs & reduces availability.

A lot of medications are also much more expensive than in other countries for the exact same product. Drug companies exist to make money, they will charge for their products whatever they believe the market in each country is willing (or able) to pay.

 

[kiwi in exile]

at the risk of continuing to drift further off topic into politics...

I'm guessing most ppl on this forum vote centre right.

In defence news:
NZ is exploriong the military version of Musks Starlink (more tax payer money being syphoned to the rich )

Phil Pennington on RNZ also has some indepth follow up on Pete Hegseths freeloading comments:

Arms, industry and intel

In New Zealand there are signs of that too, and evidence of getting the carrot already.


If Washington wanted to make a "clear shift" against the two-percenter Kiwis it would have to take into account the following partial list of deals, exercises and engagements from just the last few years:

• Industrial base: In the National Defence Authorisation Act 2023, the US Congress unilaterally expanded its National Technology and Industrial Base or NTIB "to include New Zealand". The base was earlier expanded in 2017 to include Australia, Canada and the UK over worries "that allies and potential adversaries alike are achieving technological parity with - and in some sectors, superiority over - the US military". The NTIB legally ties industrial-base planning to the national security strategy of the world's only superpower.
• Intelligence sharing: A military-civilian satellite-watching hub funded mostly by the US and called Joint Commercial Operations or JCO has operated from Auckland since 2023.
• Arms sales: Wellington is buying over $2 billion of maritime helicopters from the US government.
• The NZDF is part of four parallel projects run by the US Army, Navy, Air and Space force to integrate battlefield data and build faster "kill chains" using drone-and-satellite targeting of the type used in Iran under Project Maven. This involves regular exercises to test high-tech weapons. NZ just took part in one run by Space Force focused on a nuclear weapon detonation in orbit.
• Satellites for the US National Reconnaissance Office spy agency, the NRO, have been launched from Mahia.
• In 2024 New Zealand joined the new Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIIR) to build up military supply lines. The Pentagon said it directly supported "President Trump's Peace through Strength agenda". The 16-nation group has projects to repair the P-8 spy planes - that New Zealand flies - in Australia and for potentially large-scale production of drones, munitions and "energetics" (new explosive materials). The P-8 and drones were called "marquee initiatives" by Hegseth in a March 2026 joint statement from PIPIR partners.
• In 2024 New Zealand accepted a US invite to join the elite 10-nation Operation Olympic Defence space security group. A radar station near Auckland is part of a new "federated" space system for the Five Eyes intelligence group the country has been part of for decades.
• New Zealand this year for the first time took part in the huge Balikatan exercise off the Philippines. Hegseth at Shangri-La noted the exercise that concluded this month featured "the most advanced US capabilities". It also got close to the South China Sea and upset Beijing.
• Attempts to get more cooperation with the second Trump administration on defence, space and sensitive technologies amid "support in Washington for stronger partnership".

Hegseth is a blow hard, looks like the realtionship is good. The cynic in me thinks the 3.5% target set by Trump etc is as much about US arms sales as anything else.

 

[danonz]

To be fair to Hegseth, the journalist asked a loaded question, and his response wasn't as berating as the headlines suggest. The target is part of what was agreed to by all NATO members, and we are a friend and/or partner of NATO.

• The 3.5% Target: At the 2025 NATO Summit, Allies formally committed to investing at least 3.5% of their national GDP on core, traditional defense requirements by 2035.
• The 5% Overarching Target: In addition to the core 3.5%, Allies committed to raising their total annual spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. The additional 1.5% is intended for dual-use and resilience investments, such as defending cyber networks, protecting critical infrastructure, and strengthening the industrial base.

• Defence expenditures and NATO’s 5% commitment

  At the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague, Allies made a commitment to investing 5% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually on core defence requirements and defence- and security-related spending by 2035. They will allocate at least 3.5% of GDP annually based on the agreed definition of NATO defence...

  www.nato.int

 

[Gracie1234]

This 3.5% questions is pretty simple to answer. If NATO committed to that as an appropriate amount, then if we are below that, then it is clear we are not providing the same proportional resources as others. Other countries also have debt, social security, infrastructure, health and education bills. Pretty simple if you are below what others are doing, but you want to be seen as part of the group, then you are free loading to a degree. I will not comment on if that is an appropriate amount as i am not an expert but more resources means more capability.
It seems clear that more capability is required so that it deters conflict, imagine what would happen to our economy if there was a conflict in the south china sea. Our economy would grind to a halt and there would be nothing we would be able to do.