Australia not forcing frigate issue—M.P.

Press, 19 May 1989, Page 4

Australia not forcing frigate issue—M.P.

By

BRENDON BURNS

in Wellington Australia is not forcing New Zealand to consider buying Anzac frigates, says the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Marshall. Defending the project, Mr Marshall said some of the debate about frigates was xenophobic and much of it simplistic. The absolescence of the present frigates was close and this had forced decisions to be made about

the sort of Navy required by New Zealand in the future. Mr Marshall discounted other options proposed as alternatives to Anzac frigates. “You get pretty much what you pay for when it comes to defence assets,” he said. Every big reduction sought in price was almost certain to mean a drop in capability. “The various alternatives to the Anzac ship

when measured against the performance we needed were found to come up short on capability in proportion to the drop in price.”

Some critics of Anzac ships said the Government was intent on aggrandising New Zealand’s military power. The policy was not to expand an offensive miltiary posture, but to enhance capability for selfdefence and strategic denial, he said.