Caution must be applied to helicopter replacement
Wayne Mapp MP
National Party Defence Spokesman
30 October 2007
Caution must be applied to helicopter replacement purchase
National's Defence spokesman, Dr Wayne Mapp, hopes the Government will not make the same mistakes over its contract negotiations to purchase five Agusta 109 helicopters as it did over the NH90s.
"Labour has today announced that the Agusta 109 is the preferred helicopter to replace the 40-year-old fleet of Sioux helicopters.
"The air force will welcome the news, given that the Sioux helicopters have been outdated for many, many years.
"My concern is that the Government has chosen the Agusta 109s before a purchase price has been fully determined.
"Surely, the Government is in danger of running into exactly the same problems it experienced with the NH90 contract where the price blew out to nearly $1 billion from the original $500 million.
"I also note that the Minister of Defence Phil Goff recently told the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee that the purchase may not fully augment the capability requirements of the New Zealand Defence Force.
"It is apparent that the Government is choosing to ignore the concerns the committee had over the way defence equipment is procured.
"This further demonstrates why New Zealand needs a full defence White Paper as National proposes in its discussion document on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade."
ENDS