Government unveils $12 billion defence spending plan

Monday, 7 April 2025

The Government will invest $12 billion — including $9 billion in new spending — into defence over the next four years, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced in Wellington on Monday.

The spending will focus on acquiring helicopters, Boeing 757 aircraft, and modern software systems, as New Zealand prepares for an increasingly 'challenging and dangerous' strategic environment.

'Put simply this is the floor, not the ceiling, of funding for our Defence Force,' Luxon said.

New Zealand is facing the most challenging and dangerous strategic environment in decades, according to the highly-anticipated Defence Capability Plan, released in Wellington on Monday.

The report points out the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) will need to have “combat readiness, capability and readiness” in the next 15 years with the ability to respond to “dangerous situations and environments” for an extended period of time.

Overall it means New Zealand will be spending 2% of its gross domestic product on defence in the next eight years, up from 1%. This pulls its defence spend in line with Australia.

The Defence Force also released its strategic defence policy, which sets out that New Zealand will “act early and deliberately in pursuing and protecting our defence interests”.

Enhancing the ANZUS alliance, a 1951 security treaty signed between Australia, New Zealand and the US, is also a key pillar of defence’s policy objective, alongside more closely partnering with Australia as well as the “wider Five Eyes partnership” - which includes Canada, the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand.

Major investments outlined for 2025-2028

• Enhanced strike capabilities

• Frigate sustainment programme

• Persistent surveillance (uncrewed autonomous vessels)

• Replacing the maritime helicopters

• Javelin anti-tank missile upgrade

• Network enabled army

• Special operations sustainment

• Vehicles for the NZDF

• Counter uncrewed ariel systems (UAS)

• Long-range remotely piloted aircraft

• Replacing the Boeing 757 fleet

• Space capabilities

• Enhancing cyber security capabilities

• Enterprise resource planning

• Improving intelligence functions

• Updating classified digital services

• Accommodation, messing and dining modernisation

• Defence estate regeneration

• Defence housing programme

• Future Devonport naval base design

• Ohakea infrastructure programme

• Defence, Science and Technology uplift

• Technology accelerator

• Information management

• Digital modernisation

• Logistics resilience

• Consolidated Logistics Project Infrastructure

• Implementing a workforce strategy