The National Party has abandoned its plans to scrap an independent watchdog tasked with overseeing the New Zealand military, after coalition partner NZ First effectively vetoed its abolition.
The office of the Inspector-General of Defence was set up in July last year, tasked with providing independent oversight of the NZ Defence Force (NZDF) and its activities.
The inspectorate’s establishment was among the key recommendations of the Operation Burnham inquiry, which investigated allegations of war crimes by New Zealand forces operating in Afghanistan in 2010 as outlined in the book Hit & Run by Nicky Hager and Jon Stephenson.
While the inquiry found the military operation that led to the death of an Afghan child and four other people was justified under international law, it concluded the Defence Force had never corrected claims made by its personnel to the public and ministers that allegations of civilian casualties were “unfounded”, despite knowing it was possible.
Criticising the military’s handling of allegations of civilian casualties, inquiry members Sir Terence Arnold and Sir Geoffrey Palmer said the inspectorate was “a necessary step to minimise the possibility of similar failures occurring in the future, and to ensure that, if they do occur, they are investigated and remedied promptly and appropriately”.
While the inspector-general’s office was due to start its work by January 2025, its existence had seemed in jeopardy after the National-led coalition took office.
National was the sole party to vote against the inspectorate’s creation when the establishing legislation went through Parliament under the Labour government.
At the bill’s third reading, National MP Tim van de Molen described the proposal as “a waste of time … [and] not fundamentally achieving a significant improvement for the Defence Force or for the confidence the public can have in the Defence Force”.
“When we go into any operational theatre, our troops are deployed and they operate by the laws of armed conflict, their specific rules of engagement based on wherever they are and what has been set in place there. Those are the frameworks that guide them, as well it should be, and that is the mechanism to ensure that actions are appropriate,” van de Molen said.
Ahead of the bill’s first reading in late 2022, van de Molen had told Stuff that National would abolish the inspectorate if elected, although such a commitment was not included in either the party’s parliamentary speeches or its campaign manifesto for last year’s election.
Defence Minister Judith Collins received two briefings in February related to “repeal of the Inspector-General of Defence Act”, according to a list obtained by Newsroom under the Official Information Act.
A separate briefing to Collins shortly after she took office last December shows defence officials expressing concern about the “additional direct and indirect costs and personnel overheads” associated with the inspectorate’s creation.
“It is anticipated that the five-person office … will impose a significant work demand within the Office of the Chief of Defence Force and the wider NZDF for handling requests for information, coordinating [inspectorate-]initiated investigations and reviews, facilitating Base, Camp and Operational (domestic and international) visits and managing related service and support functions,” the briefing said.
Collins told Newsroom in a written statement that while the party had opted to pursue repealing the act given its stance in opposition, “ultimately we did not get consensus and, as such, that is the end of the matter”.
Act voted in favour of the legislation during the last term of Parliament, with the party’s then-defence spokesman James McDowall saying the inspectorate “confronts an important issue” and should exist.
However, Newsroom understands Act was consulted by Collins’ office about the potential repeal and did not raise any objections, and that it was in fact New Zealand First that was responsible for stopping the repeal plans progressing any further.
The party was not in Parliament when the inspectorate was established, but its former MP Ron Mark was defence minister at the time of the Operation Burnham inquiry, and the party signalled its support for the office ahead of the 2020 election.
In a letter to the Privacy Foundation outlining its privacy and personal information policies, NZ First’s then-chief of staff Jon Johansson (now a special adviser to foreign affairs minister Winston Peters) said the party was “fully supportive” of the establishment of an inspector-general of defence, having previously backed the creation of a similar role for the intelligence agencies.
“These roles both strengthen the civilian leadership’s control of the intelligence agencies and of the military, and are welcomed by the party,” Johansson wrote.
A spokesman for New Zealand First told Newsroom the party did not comment on “matters related to party consultation”.
