Henare said the capability plan wasn’t just about ships and planes. Infrastructure was a problem and part of the capability plan was to “regrow” those bases. This aligned with the Government’s priorities, he said. He was currently discussing what the plan might look like with Finance Minister Grant Robertson, and more detail would be known by the final quarter of this year. Green Party defence spokeswomen Golriz Ghahraman asked Henare whether it was now irresponsible to proceed with the “outlandishly expensive” purchase of frigates in the future, given the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate crisis. Henare said there was a need to balance this view with the need to support Pacific nations through the climate crisis, and that could only be done with such military equipment.
Robertson also said he’d talk to Foran about going public with the names of those countries. “Mr Foran has obviously said today that he knows the number, if he knows the number he knows the name, so I think we should all follow that up,” Robertson told media on Thursday. “This is Air New Zealand s responsibility I m very happy to talk to Mr Foran so that if he s able to do that [reveal the names of the militaries]– that he does tell you that,” Robertson said.
Thomas Coughlan/Stuff
Air New Zealand chief executive Greg Foran is appearing before Parliament’s transport committee.