Defence exercise in Cooks

Press, 22 July 1986, Page 24

Defence exercise in Cooks

The military exercise which has just been conducted in the Cook Islands appears to have gone smoothly. It was the first joint services exercise which was conducted under a single commander. Such a system of command is entirely appropriate for a small force. It was clear that some of the resources were strained: the frigate Canterbury could not travel at its optimum speed because if it had it would have run out of fuel; the Skyhawks could not reach the Cook Islands without refuelling from other Skyhawks 600 km away from New Zealand. The military exercise was simply that: if the action had to be in earnest, the difficulties found during “Joint Venture 86” would have had more serious results. It is sensible to find out the problems first.

A tanker is being bought for sea refuelling, and plans for the Air Force include some other form of aerial refuelling. New Zealand forces have frequently exercised with the forces of Australia and the United States, and have been able to rely on their refuelling facilities. The problem with being part of a larger force is that the deficiencies in New Zealand’s own capabilities have been able to be ignored. It has been the expressed intention of the present Government to make New Zealand’s Armed Forces more self-reliant. Because the United States will not allow its forces to train with those of New Zealand, there is something of making a virtue of necessity in all this. Nevertheless, the thrust of defence policy, for longer than the present Government has been in office, has been to concentrate New Zealand’s defence efforts closer to home, and the exercise in the Cooks showed up'some gaps.

An exercise in the Cook Islands made sense. New Zealand has a constitutional commitment to the defence of the Cook Islands. Moreover, it has been the Premier of the Cook Islands, Sir Thomas Davis, who, among South Pacific island leaders, has expressed most concern about the dispute between New Zealand and the United States. Sir Thomas Davis left the Cook Islands before the exercise, thereby saving himself from saying to the forces there that he did not think they could defend the Cooks, or of praising them for their exercise. Both would

have been embarrassing for him. The Cook Islands Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Norman George, who is in the same party as Sir Thomas Davis, cheerfully deputised for him, and was unstinting in his praise both because the exercise was held in the Cooks, and for the manner in which it was conducted.

From time to time the point is raised that there is no need to have defence exercises in the islands; that there is no threat, or if one did develop, it would be too great for New Zealand’s forces. It has to be admitted that there has been a mythology associated with the idea of a “threat,” and it has been used to justify sometimes extravagant defence postures. Nevertheless, the Government green paper, “The Defence Question — a discussion paper,” which appeared at the end of last year, takes a cool-headed look at the region.

It sees, first of all, a possibility of externally-inspired attempts to subvert or to bring down Governments, either by peaceful or forceful destabilisation, and makes the point that this has occurred both in the Caribbean and in the Indian Ocean but not, so far, in the Pacific. The green paper also sees internal disorder in neighbouring island countries arising out of mishandled decolonisation, or secessionist movements, or economic deprivation, or ethnic or communal differences, as a potential cause of conflict. The discussion paper also lists several more conventional hostile threats. These include the expansion of a military presence by a major Power, competitive economic exploitation which would lead to the collapse of the Antarctic Treaty, the possibility of incursions leading to confrontation in Papua New Guinea, interruption of shipping routes, or incursions into the Western Pacific or into Australia. In none of these cases would a major war be entailed. However, police action by New Zealand’s Armed Forces might be needed. This action might very well include the movement of troops, ships, and aircraft as in the exercise in the Cook Islands. Much of the work carried out by the Armed Forces in the islands is relief work, after disasters. The exercise just held is an equally important role for New Zealand forces.