We could base the NZ units at Bondi......

Dream on Bluie.

 

  I was resident in New Zealand when we were building the current ANZAC frigates and from the fuss that the purchase caused amongst the Kiwi populace you would have thought we were buying frickin' SSBN's! I remember driving under overpasses in Auckland which had "NO FRIGATES!" scrawled across them. They were going to buy four but the second two were dropped and the RNZN only ended up with the current two because the then Defence Minister Bob Tizard (my Mum's old french teacher) dug his toes in. A lot of the fuss revolved around the popular perception that Australia was taking them for a ride by expecting NZ to pay for Australia's frigates.

 

That was around the end of the Cold War when the prospects of a shooting war were heightened compared to what they are today, so the idea that they are going to buy into a project to replace their vessels with 6000 tonne plus DDG's in the next decade or two is just a joke.

What makes you think that New Zealand soldiers are going to want to spend the majority of their service based in Australia? Not so good for recruitment and retention me thinks.

The whole problem with this as always, is going to be ensuring the Kiwi's retain the vestige of "National Sovereignty".

 

Let's face it, there is more combat capability in Australia's 3rd Brigade (including 3RAR) than there is in the whole New Zealand Army, so what are they really bringing to the table capability wise?

 

The answer, which will p*ss off Kiwis no doubt, but is true nonetheless, is political support. NZSAS is absolutely world class and will make a valuable contribution, I don't deny that, but the conventional combat capability of NZDF has been almost entirely emasculated.

Australia doesn't need a couple of extra P-3's that due to a political decision have only been partly upgraded and are not capable of hunting modern subs nor operating in an environment with a modern air threat, nor a couple of refurbished C-130's that provide less capability than the least of our planned future tactical airlifters (C-130J-30) and RNZN's "dreaded" (to the people of NZ who were opposed to them) frigates are a deadset liability in their current state if there is ANY chance an anti-ship missile or 2 will be fired towards them.

 

A half a battalions worth of LAVIII's is going to make SO much difference to the Royal Australian Army's capability too (because NZ only bought 105 for some weird reason and won't be deploying much more than half that number at any one time)...

 

I don't mean to offend any Kiwi's reading this, but one has to be rational. If you can't even deploy a battalion group overseas, support it and rotate it when it needs to, then any contribution you are ever going to make, will be a niche capability at best and more designed to show the "solidarity" of allied operations than a genuine desire to have a meaningful input into the operations actually being conducted.  

 

At worst, it will provide an excuse for the Kiwi Government to run down your capability even further, leaving Australia's stretched military resources to pick up even more of the slack... 

 

The Political & Sovereignty issues are the reason I originally suggested a ANZAC Marine core, an independent expeditionary force (capability) that neither nation has, for use when it suits both nations policy objectives (Solomon?s, East Timor, Fiji etc).

This way each nation retains its own Defence Force for use when it suits each nation?s individual objectives, softening any sovereignty concerns.

This joint force would ensure that there are forces available for regional emergencies and both nations pull their weight, when the objectives suit both nations - providing greater overall regional security.

"Mr Key says any changes will not undermine New Zealand's independent foreign policy and is not likely to lead to an increase in defence spending. He believes it is sensible New Zealand dumped its air combat wing and now concentrates on those things it can do well.

 

Mr Key says there is always constant pressure for New Zealand to spend more in that area, but believes the focus should remain on how defence funds are spent and how well goals are achieved - rather than the amount of money".

 

ww.radionz.co.nz/news/stories/2009/08/21/1245c240fc5b