Mitchell Mark: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMitchell Mark: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 08 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11779. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) to the Minister of Defence: What recent announcements has the Government made about funding for New Zealand’s defence and security?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Defence): This morning along with the Prime Minister I released the Defence White Paper 2016—a 15-year modernisation plan worth almost $20 billion to ensure that the New Zealand Defence Force has the capabilities it needs to meet the country’s security and defence challenges.Mark Mitchell: What major challenges does the Defence Force face and how will these be tackled in the years ahead?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: As technology advances and the security situation in many parts of the world deteriorates the Defence Force will be required to respond to a wide range of different situations. Ensuring security and law-abiding activity in our exclusive economic zone is one which will be boosted by more and better surveillance aircraft and ships. Ensuring we protect our interests in the Ross Sea and the Antarctic and that we pull our weight in supporting a wider Antarctic programme will be aided by two new ice-strengthened vessels capable of spending more time in the Southern Ocean. Ensuring that the sophisticated communications platforms operating on our boats planes and other vehicles when they are on deployment around the world are well protected from the growing number of cyber-attacks and assailants who are using that particular method of warfare will be addressed.Mark Mitchell: How else will the $20 billion of expenditure announced today be spent?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: An exercise like that which we have undertaken in producing the white paper allows us to look ahead to the demands that will come of all aspects of the Defence Force in the years ahead. Today we have signalled the procurement of strategic and tactical airlift assets as well as air surveillance aircraft. There are also combat patrols sustainment and the tour and operations vessels for the navy and there is ever-increasing equipment for greater cyber and intelligence capacity to support Defence Force personnel and networks at home and abroad. This is a good white paper identifying at this point in time the environment we live in and the means necessary for our Defence Force to meet the demands put upon it in the years ahead.Hon Phil Goff: What does the white paper do to address the serious problem that the Auditor-General referred to last month which is a serious significant and worsening shortage of skilled people in the Defence Force which he said is stopping the use of the assets that the Minister is spending billions of dollars investing in?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The assets that are not being deployed by the New Zealand Defence Force were purchased under the previous Government’s watch which did not take the sort of long-range look at requirements for defence that this white paper takes. That may well be something that the Auditor-General has in fact determined as a problem but this white paper speaks significantly about personnel and having the right mix of skills in the military for the years ahead.Hon Phil Goff: I seek leave to table a document from the Auditor-General that is part of a Treasury paper that I do not think is widely available. It makes the point that a severe shortage of labour stops—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The paper has been described and on the basis that the member is saying that it is not readily available to members I will put the leave. Leave is sought to table that particular document. Is there any objection? There is no objection.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Grant Robertson: Has the Minister of Finance assured the Minister of Defence that the full $20 billion will be funded?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The Minister of Finance has been involved in the discussions that have led to the release of the white paper. Naturally he is well aware that as he progresses through the next 15 years of his term in that role it is something that he will have to meet.Grant Robertson: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: No I need to deal with a point of order. But if it is a point of order that the question was not addressed it was definitely addressed. [Interruption] Order! I hope that the member—[Interruption] It may not have been addressed to the member’s satisfaction but it was to mine.Rt Hon John Key: Does the Minister take confidence in the fact that the Opposition is now saying that we will be in Government for the next 15 years—Mr SPEAKER: Order! There is no ministerial responsibility for that.Grant Robertson: Has he sought an assurance from the Minister of Finance that the Prime Minister’s desire for tax cuts will not compromise $20 billion worth of funding for the Defence Force?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: It is deeply disturbing that the Opposition’s finance spokesperson has not seen the extraordinary surplus position that the Government may have in the near future. Obviously that creates a high degree of optimisation for tax cuts as well as everything else the Government is committed to. Of course if he is predicating his question on the basis that he thinks that somehow something might happen to put him in the role then I guess everything is up for grabs.