Coleman Jonathan: Defence Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Coleman Jonathan: Defence Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:678;Page:853] 
Hon Dr JONATHAN COLEMAN (Minister of Defence) 
: 
 I move  
That the Defence Amendment Bill be now read a first time. 
 I nominate the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee to consider the bill. Before outlining the details of this bill I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the men and women of the New Zealand Defence Force. There are hundreds of New Zealand Defence Force personnel deployed overseas from Timor to the Solomons to the Sinai to Afghanistan and various places in between. These men and women and their families make tremendous personal sacrifices in the call of duty. I want to especially acknowledge those Defence Force personnel who in recent times have made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of their country. In particular I want to pay tribute to Corporal Ben Carson Flying Officer Dan Gregory Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen Lieutenant Tim O’Donnell Private Kirifi Mila Corporal Doug Grant Lance Corporal Leon Smith Flight Sergeant Andrew Forster and Squadron Leader Nick Cree. Their sacrifice is a sobering reminder of the risks that New Zealand Defence Force personnel run in the course of their daily work so that national security and international order might be maintained. I especially want to acknowledge the loved ones of these men who have lost so much. 
Turning now to the bill the bill amends the Defence Act 1990 and supports the Government’s commitment to making sure New Zealand has a strong and effective Defence Force fit to deliver against 21st century priorities. This bill implements Government policy set out in the  
Defence White Paper 2010 
. The development of the white paper was the first comprehensive direction-setting exercise for defence since that undertaken by the previous National-led Government in 1997. Before the 2008 general election a commitment was made to undertake a wide-ranging defence review and this has been subsequently honoured. An extensive programme of public consultation was undertaken around the country. Over 600 written submissions were received from individuals and organisations including the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association the Peace Movement Aotearoa / New Zealand and from within the Defence Force itself. An independent value-for-money review complemented the review process and the Government appointed an independent panel of experts to test key assumptions underpinning the review. 
The result of all this work was a thorough assessment of New Zealand’s security outlook defence priorities Defence Force tasks and the military capabilities and organisational structures required. The white paper drew together the recommendations of the review and its supporting exercises to set an overall direction for defence for the next 25 years. Two major steps have already been taken to put in place the outlined strategy. Firstly the Defence Capability Plan released last year set out a framework for acquiring the military capabilities that the Defence Force will need to perform its tasks. This plan sets out the path through to 2020 for equipping the Defence Force as an integrated and coherent joint force. 
Secondly there has been significant organisational reform within both the Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence. The value-for-money review identified the need for the middle and back areas of the Defence Force to match the efficiency and effectiveness of its front line. The New Zealand Defence Force has been making significant progress in improving its teeth-to-tail ratio to reflect white paper priorities and best practice building and empowering deployable resources. 
The means for acquiring military capabilities and managing them over their whole of life has also been significantly reformed. The Defence Amendment Bill gives the Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence the powers they need to meet the white paper goals. These changes will make both organisations more efficient and enable them to work together more effectively. 
In its first term the current Government inherited a host of defence acquisition decisions that were experiencing long delays and operational deficiencies. Independent reviews highlighted areas where improvements needed to be made. This bill addresses those deficiencies by clearly defining the responsibilities and accountabilities of the Secretary of Defence and the Chief of Defence Force. The roles of the secretary and the Chief of Defence Force are in particular redefined with regard to the management of military capability to ensure that their duties are undertaken in consultation with each other. The bill also supports this obligation to consult by providing for the sharing of and mutual access to information held by the Defence Force and the Ministry of Defence. The Ministry of Defence’s capacity to deliver advice that offers a comprehensive view of the links between policy on the one hand and military capability and funding on the other has also been recently strengthened. This strengthening of capability alongside the reforms in this bill means the Government will have done all that it can to put into practice what has been learnt from past acquisition projects. 
To enhance the management of the Defence Force overall the bill makes changes to the role of the Chief of Defence Force. The Chief of Defence Force will formally command the armed forces rather than doing so through the chiefs of the three services. This is vital to the one-force approach of the modern Defence Force and is key to ensuring that the three services work more effectively together as is required by the increasing sophistication of modern-day military operations. Providing the Chief of Defence Force with direct command of the armed forces will also allow greater clarity and accountability in undertaking the required organisational reform that has been set out in the white paper. The Chief of Defence Force will also be appointed and held accountable for his performance under more transparent arrangements. This bill provides for the State Services Commissioner to make recommendations for the appointment of the Chief of Defence Force. This is a practice that has developed over recent times and should be codified in legislation. 
The Minister of Defence will also be empowered to appoint the commissioner or another suitable person to review the Chief of Defence Force’s performance. The process for removing the Chief of Defence Force from office should this ever be necessary will also be clarified by the bill. To support the Chief of Defence Force’s role as direct commander of the armed forces this bill establishes the Vice Chief of Defence Force as the statutory deputy. The Vice Chief of Defence Force will be mandated to serve as acting Chief of Defence Force if required. The vice chief will also become a statutory member of the Chiefs of Service Committee and preside over that committee in the absences of the Chief of Defence Force. The bill provides for the Vice Chief of Defence Force to be appointed by warrant by the Governor-General in council whereas the chiefs of the services will in future be appointed by the Chief of Defence Force after consultation with the Minister. This development will reinforce the position of the Chief of Defence Force as direct commander of each of the services. 
To support improvements to the Defence Force’s front line the bill enables the Chief of Defence Force to redesignate a back-office military position as a civilian position. Former military personnel will be able to fill these new civilian roles. Redesignation of military roles to civilian ones is an important efficiency measure for the Defence Force. It enables military resources and personnel to be used for modern military purposes: national defence maritime patrol humanitarian relief and upholding New Zealand’s values at home and abroad. For roles where the impressive skill set of uniformed personnel is not required the extra costs of having military staff performing these jobs simply denies resources for the front line. 
Finally the bill also addresses confusion that has arisen around the duties of reserve forces and part-time forces. To clear up this confusion the terminology in the Act will be amended. The “active reserve” will refer to part-time members of the armed forces and the “inactive reserve” will refer to former members of the armed forces who have a residual obligation to serve if called upon. This bill advances the comprehensive plan for the future of the New Zealand Defence Force which was set out in the white paper. The bill provides the New Zealand Defence Force with the command structure and administrative capabilities it needs in order to build a 21st century Defence Force. I commend this bill to the House.