Mark RonHon RON MARK (Minister of Defence): Thank you Madam Chair. It's indeed a privilege and a pleasure to be able to rise on behalf of New Zealand First and in particular to speak on Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade in this debate on behalf of the Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs the Rt Hon Winston Peters. I have to say given the rather churlish nature of some of the speeches that I've just heard across the floor that if I was to ever dare to offer any defence for the Minister of Foreign Affairs it would probably be something along the lines of this: one tends to rise to the level of one's opposition. I guess on the rugby field we've all played the odd game like that where we've played to the level of our opposition and I guess that's true of politics right now. There are times when you see an Opposition that demonstrates such a puerile disingenuous and churlish attitude to such a serious portfolio—foreign affairs—to deliver this barrage of speeches that we've just been subjected to and I really am disappointed by Mr Penk's speech because—CHAIRPERSON (Hon Anne Tolley): Come to the Estimates please. Hon RON MARK: —I expected more of him. I am just answering those particular points Madam Chair. I think what stands out in this Vote Foreign Affairs and Trade is that this Government under the leadership of the Rt Hon Winston Peters in foreign affairs is attempting to address the failings of the last nine years in nine flat months and we over on this side of the House think that we have more than done that with more than $714 million extra that has been allocated over and above over the next four years into particularly Official Development Assistance $150 million put into operating funding over four years and $40 million put into capital. It's been quite interesting to hear the counterarguments coming from the Opposition who once championed the need for free-trade agreements better international relationships striking quality deals with trading partners and breaking into new grounds where there are no trade agreements right now and yet in one fell swoop in less than nine months this Government is addressing that by opening new embassies. The astonishing thing is that rather than hearing the proponents of free trade prosperity and international relations applauding this budgetary allocation and applauding the decision of our Minister of Foreign Affairs to break new ground and to reopen embassies to reconnect with Europe in search of of all things a free-trade agreement with the EU. Now we would have thought that a mature Opposition who was pro-business pro-prosperity pro - economic development and pro - free trade would have lauded and applauded everything that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is doing in that very space. To hear from the Opposition that the serious global challenges that we face in strategic defence policy are no different today than what they were 10 20 years ago is astonishing—astonishingly ignorant—because we only have to look at what is happening in the Pacific and we can see the reality as to why we needed a reset policy. We cannot sit here and complain and moan and wonder and worry about non-traditional actors and what they may or may not be doing in the Pacific Island States and about the parlous state of some of our Pacific Island communities and still sit here and do nothing. Well this Government's not about doing nothing; this Government's about doing something and a Pacific reset is about doing something for our Pacific Island community of nations that we support—many of whom have citizens living in our country—and ensuring that we enhance the security of those nations both in terms of physical security and in terms of social security and in terms of their ability to service and support their own communities. This is a Budget in foreign affairs that we are enormously proud of and that we are very very keen and happy to debate anywhere on the hustings come 2020; let me assure you of that. I notice with deep sadness that there are no more speeches coming from that side particularly on defence. I want to as the Minister of Defence—because the Opposition for some reason seems to have gone very quiet on that area—just recap on some of the points of concern raised by the Opposition on which I attempted to placate them in my presentation at the Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade Committee on Vote Defence Force. So let's talk about Vote Defence Force—and maybe the things that they don't want to talk about—now. The first thing that stood out was a big question about what are we doing and what we heard repeatedly from the Opposition was about what was not going to be in the Estimates. In fact we had the Hon Mark Mitchell telling everybody and suggesting—no saying—at the select committee that this Government being a Labour - New Zealand First coalition Government with the Greens in support was going to cut defence spending. Well that didn't happen did it? In fact we increased defence expenditure to Vote Defence Force by $324.1 million. There were questions around capability and serious—Hon Ruth Dyson: That's a lot. Hon RON MARK: It's a lot of money actually for a Government that apparently was going to cut defence expenditure. Then there were serious questions about whether or not we would make a decision around the P3 Orion replacement. I did say in that select committee Put your cell phones on flight mode buckle up put your tray up sit back hold on; it's coming." Well we have announced what I knew we would be announcing and that is that this Government has made the decision to purchase four P-8 Poseidons and it's interesting that I have heard not a mutter not a murmur not a sound nor a syllable from the other side as they obviously had to swallow everything that they had said up until this point in time.We have not been slow or tardy. In the eight short months we have made massive progress in defence. The Strategic Defence Policy Statement 2018 is out there. The P-8 decision—the replacement for the P3s—has been announced. We are buying four plus all of the support gear plus a simulator. We have even gone so far as to announce that we are going to bring forward the complementary capability that that Government talked about but did nothing about. Now that's about the usage of satellites the use of small manned aircraft and the use of—what's the third aspect? Satellites small aircraft and I'll come to the other bit. We're bringing that forward and you will see more progress on that very very soon.The review of defence procurement policy? Done dusted. Baseline funding? Increased. Limited service volunteer screening? Budgets increased project doubled. Veterans Affairs? An extra $1.1 million into grants over the next four years for the Royal New Zealand Returned Services Association and No Duff Charitable Trust. We have completed the report on the warrant of fitness check on the 2014 Act. We've completed the rehabilitation strategy. We have reviewed the procurement processes and we are moving fast on some other capabilities which you will hear more about very soon. In terms of the capability plan review that's been kicked off this month and we hope to complete that before the end of this year.I have actually had returned servicemen and uniformed members of the Defence Force say this to me and I'm immensely proud that this Government is able to claim it: they have seen more action from this Government in defence policy in the last eight months than they saw out of the previous Government in nine long years. And I didn't even mention the frigate systems upgrade project; the King Air replacement project—the $150 million over ten years. Done and dusted signed off completed by this Government. And in fact there is not an area of the defence forces that we have not touched. All of these areas by contrast were too hard too big and too difficult for the last Government and that's why they kicked the can all the way down the road made not one decision and left it to us. Well the good news is that we're up to it. We're up for it and we will continue to look after the men and women in our Defence Force in a way that the previous Government never ever dreamt of."