NZDF Defence Boosting w/ Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington: 9 April, 2025

Just yesterday, the government announced that they would be investing $12 billion dollars into the New Zealand Defence Force over the next four years.

The investment is part of the government’s Defence Capability Plan and is aimed at bringing defence spending to 2% of our GDP, about the same level that defence expenditure was in the 1990s.

Peace Action Aotearoa have referred to the defence boost as a “shocking waste” that would have been better spent on our infrastructure and medical system and that The Defence Capability Plan ties NZ to America’s territorial ambitions against China.

Oto spoke to Valerie Morse from Peace Action Wellington to discuss the government's Defence Capability Plan and the influence that US foreign policy has on it.