Shalise Tanzy

Then the Air Force.

It spent about $1.1 billion.

But the Army was the big spender, with $1.16 billion going towards our troops in 2025.

now add an additional $669 million on top of that to go towards other defence capabilities, and that totals $3.79 billion that year.

And those figures aren't projected to come down any time soon.

So why are we spending so much?

Is it purely because our defence has been so underfunded for so long, or are there other factors at play?

Well, the answer to that remains unclear.

Here's Anna Fifield again.

Well, because that was one of my questions, is why are we starting to spend so much money on defence?

Is it just because the sector's been so underfunded for so many years?

Or is there a war that's imminent that we don't even know about?

These are the questions that I think Kiwis want to know, especially in a time when you've got the cost of living crisis, fuel is so expensive.

Should we even care about spending money on our defence right now?

That's it for today.

The Detail is a Newsroom production supported by RNZ and New Zealand On Air.

Thank you to Anna Fifield and David Cappy.

This episode was produced by Gwen McClure and engineered by Chris Wethy.

I'm Shalise Tanzi.

Ka kite anō.