NZ’s Defence Force Struggles With $360 Million Cost Over-Run

The Chief of Defence says the military will have to ‘pause or turn off’ a ‘raft of things’ as a result of a budget blowout.

The arrival of the first of a new fleet of C-130J-30 Hercules transport aircraft for the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) that will replace the aging C-130(H) fleet at a cost of $1.5 billion. Courtesy of New Zealand Defence Force

New Zealand’s Defence Force (NZDF) has admitted that it is running $360 million (US$211 million) over budget and is having to consider which programmes to axe or delay as a result.

“So that number, I don’t know how it’s got out,” Chief of Defence Air Marshal Tony Davies told MPs during the NZDF’s regular appearance at Parliament.