One of New Zealand Defence Force’s (NZDF) new Boeing P-8A Poseidons landed in the country last December, with three more due to arrive from the United States later this year. The four planes, along with two flight simulators and upgrades to the Ōhakea air force base necessary to house them, cost the antipodean nation NZ$2.3 billion, excluding millions of dollars in future upgrades, which the military will have to carry out every two to three years.

This spending forms part of the Labour government’s “historic” NZ$4.5 billion expenditure on new military equipment and projects. Not covered by this windfall are funds for adequate pay and housing for military personnel. Instead, the multibillion dollar budget will pay for five new C-130J Super Hercules aircraft and forty-three Bushmaster vehicles on top of the already-mentioned Poseidons, taking New Zealand’s defense spending as of 2022 from 1.15 to 1.59 percent of GDP, an increase of 38 percent but still below the 2 percent expectation which NATO has set for its members.

The increase will not stop there: according to the Defence Capability Plan 2019, New Zealand will spend a total of NZ$20 billion on “capital investment” between 2016 and 2030. But will this military buildup make New Zealanders safer?