Govt needs to prioritise defence spending – Goff

  • 01/10/2015
Phil Goff (Simon Wong/3 News)
Phil Goff (Simon Wong/3 News)

The Government is under fire from Labour over how much it is choosing to spend on zoo animals, rather than its armed forces.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee is in China, and has delivered a letter expressing interest in bringing pandas to Wellington, at an annual cost of more than $1 million.

Labour's defence spokesperson Phil Goff told the Paul Henry programme the Government needs to prioritise its spending.

He says he saw the Defence Force's statement of intent last week and there are "people in the Defence Force [who], having not got a pay rise in the last six years that kept them up with inflation or the average way, are not going to get one in the next four years."

Watch the video for the full interview with Phil Goff.