Goff makes al Qaeda, Taleban jibe at peace protesters

Peace activists confront police outside the defence industry forum at Te Papa yesterday. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Defence Minister Phil Goff has criticised protesters who staged a lively but peaceful demonstration at a defence industry conference in Wellington yesterday.

About 200 peace activists were outside the annual forum of the Defence Industry Association of New Zealand. Unlike last year when 19 people were arrested, there were no arrests this year.

In his speech at Te Papa Mr Goff took a swipe at the protesters, saying that at a conference this year they had labelled him and the Government "warmongers" for sending troops to Afghanistan.

"Perhaps they should reflect on what a world controlled by people who think like al Qaeda and the Taleban would look like."

Mr Goff used the forum to announce the third update of the Defence Long Term Development Plan, including a multimillion-dollar upgrade of the Devonport Naval Base.

The Navy was the major winner. Two projects at its Devonport base were unveiled, a $10 million to $15 million upgrade of the power generation and reticulation system, and a $20 million modernisation of fuelling facilities.

The plan said not upgrading the power supply would pose problems for the Navy in maintaining the fleet, especially when the new Project Protector vessels entered service from next year.

"The infrastructure is old and unable to support the existing fleet. Each Anzac frigate, for example, consumes half the total [power] output."

The report said fuel storage facilities at the base were inadequate, and fuel unloaded from ships undergoing maintenance could not be stored.

Mr Goff said there would also be a refit of the Anzac frigates' hulls, operating systems and engines costing $50 million to $60 million, and a $400 million to $500 million upgrade of their close-in protection systems. That upgrade would initially see weapons systems improved, with the full scope of further work to be determined.

In addition, Mr Goff announced an upgrade of the taxiways at Ohakea Air Base, options for the replacement of training aircraft, and an investigation into buying a share in a satellite communications system for the defence force.

The money for all except the leasing of training aircraft would come from the $1 billion of spending remaining under the existing defence plan, Mr Goff said.

National defence spokesman Murray McCully called the spending a transparent exercise in damage limitation. The newly released Defence Force Annual Report said lack of staff and poor equipment meant parts of the Army would struggle to cope with high-level threats, he said.

"Labour's reliance on New Zealand's isolation to protect us from the threat of terrorism is naive and ill-founded. No country is immune. Labour is failing in its primary duty to protect the state, and to keep our country, its infrastructure, and its citizens safe."