Penk ChrisCHRIS PENK (National—Helensville): Thank you Madam Chair. In speaking in the appropriation debate regarding the external sector I'd like to focus on the defence realm. It seems to me that the New Zealand Defence Force is a great institution of our great nation and should be supported in many ways not least of all in the appropriations space. Before I go on to talk about some specifics in relation to that following on from my colleague Mark Mitchell's discussion of the procurement process and the signals but not so far apparent changes in relation to that I did want to pay tribute to the hard-working women and men of our Defence Force. Anzac Day is coming up shortly of course and that will not be an occasion for political discussion and I'm sure that no member of this House on either side will treat it as such. But I did just want to acknowledge that in this House before moving on to perhaps the more political realm whereby we talk about the things that are needed to support our troops.They have always been ready to support us and for that reason we must always be ready to support them. Whether at home—for example most recently in relation to the Kaikōura earthquakes—or abroad they are doing great things with and for us and accordingly we must fund their operations properly. We will expend more blood if we expend less treasure on them to use the old characterisation of the things that are inevitably spent in meeting the aims of a defence force. So I make the point quite explicitly that we must support them and I call upon and challenge the Government indeed to support them not only in terms of capital expenditure on new items and as I say my colleague Mark Mitchell—the Hon Mark Mitchell no less former defence Minister—has talked about that. But I want focus a bit more on some of the operations that the defence force is currently undertaking.I think it's important that we set out clearly for the record the things that they are doing so that we know that these things are valuable and therefore worth our time attention and indeed Government revenue. I've taken the opportunity to speak before in this House about the Royal New Zealand Navy. I'm somewhat self-indulgent because of my previous occupation as a member of that service. I'll pass on quickly to mention—again somewhat in passing because I have spoken of them before—the Royal New Zealand Navy Air Force and the base at Whenuapai which is within my electorate of Helensville. So it's with great pleasure that I observe their activities again at home and abroad and indeed in that local community with good relationships for example with the local school Whenuapai School.I'll instead pass on to mention a few of the undertakings of our New Zealand Army. Community support international engagements exercises and deployments are all part of their remit and I'll just take a brief amount of time if I may to cast my eye and therefore the collective eye of the House over a few of those deployments so I hope you'll forgive me if I refer to a few notes as I do so Madam Chair Tolley. The detail obviously is important. So in Afghanistan the New Zealand Army is providing mentoring roles to officers of that nation's military. In the Sinai as with many such operations in conjunction with New Zealand Defence Force members of the other services they are implementing the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty. In the Middle East more generally the UN Truce Supervision Organisation is doing work to support that. In Iraq along with Australian Defence Force members they are building partner capability mission. In the South Sudan the newest nation of planet Earth they are supporting the UN mission there—a modest contribution by way of numbers but an important one none the less. In the Republic of Korea they are monitoring the compliance of that Armistice agreement—a part of the world that is in particular in international headlines recently. Finally they are in the Antarctica supporting the work of Antarctica New Zealand of a scientific and other nature down there.I come to the end of my time but just to reiterate my challenge as I do so to the Government to put our money—New Zealanders' money—where their mouth is in terms of supporting our troops for all the good work that they do on our behalf.Reports relevant to the External Sector noted.