The modernisation of the NZDF has to happen. It also happens that the government spending on NZ defence companies, and some overseas ones, creates high tech and high value jobs which does benefit our economy and self reliance.
I get the part about not feeding kids but maybe if their parents were working in defence industries they would be better looked after. However, some people will never care for their kids no matter what good jobs are on offer so why hamstring our econmomy to suit the feckless and lazy?
That said, the acceptance of gifts - such as the rugby tickets, smartwatches etc are a no go. They have to stopped and the fact they have been tolerated for so long says volumes about the ethics, or lack of, from not just the NZDF leaders but the government ministers as well. I don't think lunch meetings and some dinner meetings are all that bad as things do get discussed and sometimes informal meetings get the best result. The rest just stinks and is an embarrassment to NZ.
Bryce in my view is right on target with this piece of rock lifting.
NZDF and indeed all other government procurement influencers and decision makers should never be accepting gifts from suppliers irrespective of the claim that what are largely hospitality related gifts help to oil the wheels of interactions leading to transactions beneficial to NZ.
Defence contractors themselves are of course only doing their job, playing the positive relationships game to best position themselves to win contracts, taking advantage of any crack in what should be watertight integrity armour.
However I have to say that my bias warning sensors started flashing with the quote “It’s amazing that we can’t feed our kids anything more than corporate slop but we can snap our fingers and find billions for war.” ... and "militarisation has been driven by an effective lobbying..".
This is getting more into political conspiracy territory than the simple, age old problem of gifts as bribes. That isn't to deny that potential corruption of key decisions isn't taking place but that its reporting (in this and other recent articles) appears to be somewhat cherry picked to bash those industries considered to be evil in some way. Hence I can't help finding myself pondering a similar question posed some time ago by another subscriber, has the real Bryce been taken over by a woke, leftist alien body snatcher?
Can't abide ad hominem attacks, rather It was meant to inject some humour into a genuine sudden apparent shift in Bryce's articles. Really doubt Bryce is offended, but no doubt he'll call me some names if he is.
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Brings to mind the proverb "None so blind as those who will not see". Very disturbing. Thanks Bryce for a timely analysis.
Very concerning and when did the government ask us if we wanted to spend money on increasing defense spending was it an election promise.
The modernisation of the NZDF has to happen. It also happens that the government spending on NZ defence companies, and some overseas ones, creates high tech and high value jobs which does benefit our economy and self reliance.
I get the part about not feeding kids but maybe if their parents were working in defence industries they would be better looked after. However, some people will never care for their kids no matter what good jobs are on offer so why hamstring our econmomy to suit the feckless and lazy?
That said, the acceptance of gifts - such as the rugby tickets, smartwatches etc are a no go. They have to stopped and the fact they have been tolerated for so long says volumes about the ethics, or lack of, from not just the NZDF leaders but the government ministers as well. I don't think lunch meetings and some dinner meetings are all that bad as things do get discussed and sometimes informal meetings get the best result. The rest just stinks and is an embarrassment to NZ.
Bryce in my view is right on target with this piece of rock lifting.
NZDF and indeed all other government procurement influencers and decision makers should never be accepting gifts from suppliers irrespective of the claim that what are largely hospitality related gifts help to oil the wheels of interactions leading to transactions beneficial to NZ.
Defence contractors themselves are of course only doing their job, playing the positive relationships game to best position themselves to win contracts, taking advantage of any crack in what should be watertight integrity armour.
However I have to say that my bias warning sensors started flashing with the quote “It’s amazing that we can’t feed our kids anything more than corporate slop but we can snap our fingers and find billions for war.” ... and "militarisation has been driven by an effective lobbying..".
This is getting more into political conspiracy territory than the simple, age old problem of gifts as bribes. That isn't to deny that potential corruption of key decisions isn't taking place but that its reporting (in this and other recent articles) appears to be somewhat cherry picked to bash those industries considered to be evil in some way. Hence I can't help finding myself pondering a similar question posed some time ago by another subscriber, has the real Bryce been taken over by a woke, leftist alien body snatcher?
Resorting to name calling as a means of discrediting someone/thing suggests to me that the author himself is "biased".
Can't abide ad hominem attacks, rather It was meant to inject some humour into a genuine sudden apparent shift in Bryce's articles. Really doubt Bryce is offended, but no doubt he'll call me some names if he is.