Statement of Intent 1 July 2007 - 30 June 2010
Introduction
The Ministry’s 2007-2010 Statement of Intent covers an important period in the implementation of the Government’s defence policy. New state-of-the-art capabilities for the New Zealand Defence Force, as part of an ongoing, comprehensive modernisation programme, will come into operation. At the same time, we will be well into implementing the Defence Sustainability Initiative. This arose from the review commissioned by the Government in January 2004 into the capability and resourcing of Defence.
The implementation and delivery of the capability, force structure and acquisition decisions outlined in the 2001 Government Defence Statement, are an important aspect of the Ministry’s primary tasks. These are to provide policy advice on defence issues, to acquire major items of military equipment for the New Zealand Defence Force, and to audit and assess the performance of New Zealand’s Defence organisations.
Our work in these areas is undertaken in close co-operation with the New Zealand Defence Force who is the Ministry’s key partner.
The Ministry also works closely with other government agencies to ensure policy and capabilities are aligned and support New Zealand’s security objectives.
The Ministry will continue to play a lead role in ensuring that the New Zealand Defence Force’s capabilities and activities are aligned with, and matched to, the Government’s policy goals internationally, especially concerning the South Pacific, the Asia-Pacific region and global security and peacekeeping.
Balancing the high level of operational deployments with the large number of capability projects proceeding during this period of the Statement of Intent will continue to be a challenging task.
A major test for the Ministry over the period of this Statement of Intent will be competing with both the public and private sectors to retain and recruit highly sought after policy analysts and specialist technical staff. I am committed to ensuring the Ministry is seen as an organisation which provides a challenging, positive work environment, which will enable us to progress successfully the outcomes detailed in this Statement of Intent.
J W McKinnon
Secretary of Defence
