The ongoing deterioration of New Zealand’s strategic environment has reinforced the need for a proactive, strategy-led defence policy approach.
Our policy approach
Defence will act early and deliberately in promoting and protecting key defence interests:
- a secure, sovereign and resilient New Zealand;
- a stable, secure and resilient region;
- collective security through a strong network of partners; and
- a strong and effective international rules-based order.
The Government has set a high ambition for New Zealand’s defence policy, with a particular focus on enhancing our alliance with Australia and our most important security partnerships, and increasing New Zealand’s contributions to global collective security efforts that strengthen the existing international rules-based order.
The Government has also emphasised the critical importance of ensuring the security of our immediate region, spanning from Antarctica into the Pacific, and our constitutional obligations towards defence and security of the Realm.
Defence plays a key part in ensuring the security, stability, and resilience of our immediate region by deterring actions contrary to the security of New Zealand and our regional partners, and helping sustain wider regional conditions favourable to New Zealand’s security interests.
Our policy objectives
To give effect to these priorities, the Government has determined that New Zealand’s strategic defence policy will be updated to centre on three new defence policy objectives.
- protect and promote the security of New Zealand and the immediate region
- enhance the ANZUS alliance with Australia and New Zealand’s most important security partnerships
- contribute to achieving New Zealand’s global interests.
These strategic policy settings form part of the 2025 Defence Capability Plan.
