No freeloading on defence, says Goff

By FRAN O'SULLIVAN, assistant editor

Australians put New Zealand's status as a "defence freeloader" firmly on the table at a private session at the weekend's transtasman summit in Wellington.

It was seen as the one area of real difference between the countries at the inaugural Australia New Zealand Leadership Summit.

They also suggested New Zealand's independent posture would resonate better with Australia if this country lifted its defence budget.

But the Australians were publicly lavish with their praise for the work New Zealand forces have done in Pacific troublespots such as East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer yesterday played down the sharp divergence on defence which arose during a debate on Saturday afternoon.

"People who think that are people who are concerned about the defence spending," said Mr Downer.

He had earlier told a press conference: "They cast around the old chestnut of how much money New Zealand spends on defence. But we keep those comments to a more private level - and we don't make too many public comments about them."

In a presentation, Australian Secretary of Defence Rick Smith compared the countries' defence expenditure. New Zealand's defence budget is just over half that of Australia's as a percentage of gross domestic product.

Outside the closed forum, the participants would not go "on record" with their pungent criticisms, using the protection of Chatham House rules to conceal their identities.

A well-placed source suggested there was a high degree of respect on the Australian side at the "people-to-people" level for New Zealand's contribution. The Australia side could also understand it was important for each country to take decisions in its own self-interest.

"But if you've got a policy difference it resonates a lot better if we know you're not freeloading."

Another source suggested New Zealand's anti-nuclear legislation remained the "dead cat on the table" in any transtasman discussion on security issues.

Last night, Foreign Minister Phil Goff rejected claims of freeloading and said it was not a view expressed by the Australian Government officials at the summit.

New Zealand was respected internationally for making a contribution to international peacekeeping and security out of proportion to its size.

"I won't accept from anyone the claim New Zealand is a freeloader.

"New Zealand's been accused probably for 80 years by Australia of not spending enough on defence."

But he said while the country generally spent less as a percentage of gross domestic product on defence than Australia, that was a decision New Zealand was entitled to make.

Mr Downer and Mr Goff earlier publicly emphasised the contribution the two countries had jointly made towards peace and stability in the Pacific region.

Suggestions were made for joint surveillance patrols to police maritime borders.

Mr Downer later met National leader Don Brash to discuss his party's green paper on the nuclear issue. Dr Brash made sure that no Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials were present to take notes on his private discussions with Mr Downer.

Dr Brash is expected to increase the overall defence budget if National wins the next election.

Mr Downer later said he expected future forums to be dominated by business and economic issues.