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Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign on Military Spending

Time for action on military spending resources - Offline for updating

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Please scroll down this page for information and updates on military spending

Last year global military expenditure was more than $(US)2,240 billion - on average, more than $(US)6.1 billion every day - despite the COVID-19 pandemic, ongoing social inequities and the escalating climate catastrophe. Last year, on average, more than 13,600 children under the age of five died every day from mainly preventable causes - lack of access to adequate food, clean water and basic medicines. This is one of the prices paid, the collateral damage that is seldom talked about, for maintaining armed forces in a state of combat readiness around the world.

Here in Aotearoa New Zealand - which has shocking numbers of children living in families with an income below the poverty line and deplorable levels of homelessness, where there is a desperate need for more social justice and climate justice funding - military spending in the 2023 Budget totalled $(NZ)$6,631,269,000 ... that's an average of more than $127.5 million every week. This is in addition to the $(NZ)20 billion announced in June 2019 to be spent over the next decade on increased combat capability, including new military aircraft and warships.


Military spending and related updates

  • International Women's Day: Fund peace not war, 8 March 2024
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  • Online Forum: Researching public discourse on militarism, 5 March 2024
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  • Election 2023: Welfare or warfare? Let's get disarmament on the agenda! October 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-tweet   Online Resources
  • Intl Day of Peace: Election 2023 Disarmament Forum, 21 September 2023
      Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Register here
  • Comments on NZ military strategy release, 4 August 2023
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  • Climate Change Commission’s draft Advice: Help get military emissions included! Submissions due 20 June 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Read our submission
  • Militarisation or not militarisation? NZ Prime Minister's comments, 23 May 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Budget 2023: Building for tomorrow? NZ military spending increases by 12.2%, 18 May 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Scoop Independent News
  • Climate Submissions: Military emissions, Te Tiriti & the Pacific, deadline is 10 May 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • NZ Armed Forces / Defence Policy Review, March / April 2023
    • Written submission, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 29 April 2023
    • Update #6: Reminder, Defence Policy Review: Written submissions due 30 April   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
          'Fossil fuels / fossilised thinking' image Share on Facebook Re-Tweet

    • Update #5: Reminder, Defence Policy Review survey deadline tomorrow, 3 April 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet

    • Update #4: Not available online, 24 March 2023
    • Update #3: Defence Policy Review: MoD public webinars, online survey and deadline change for written submissions, 17 March 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
    • Update #2: Online discussion: NZ Armed Forces Strategy Review, 2 March 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Register here
    • Update #1: Not available online, 17 February 2023
    • Background information: Latest "Defence" Review misses the key question, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 8 July 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet

  • Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 24 April 2023
  • Impacts of armed conflict and military activities on children’s rights and the environment, and on climate change: Submission to the Committee on the Rights of the Child on Draft General Comment No. 26, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 15 February 2023
  • NZ military's "ambitious" #EmissionsReduction "Plan", Peace Movement Aotearoa, 8 February 2023   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • #BudgetForPeace! Budget 2023 Policy: Submissions due 29 January 2023
  •   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Read our submission

  • Update: NZ's humanitarian vs military assistance for Ukraine, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 14 December 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Climate #LossAndDamage funding vs military funding, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 9 November 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Update: NZ's humanitarian vs military assistance for Ukraine, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 17 August 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Oral submission: NZ Emissions Reduction Plan and military activity, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 4 August 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Latest "Defence" Review misses the key question, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 8 July 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Reminder! Submssions due on NZ's First Emissions Reduction Plan, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 27 June 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Update: NZ's humanitarian vs military assistance for Ukraine, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 24 May 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • NZ military spending increases again: Time to #BudgetForPeace, 19 May 2022
      Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Scoop Independent News
  • Guess what's missing from NZ's emissions reduction plan, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 16 May 2021   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet

  • Hitting the right balance on "defence" spending? Think again! Peace Movement Aotearoa, 26 April 2022
  • Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 25 April 2022

  • Every dollar tells a story ... NZ's humanitarian vs military assistance for Ukraine, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 12 April 2022
      Funding priorities, share on Facebook, Re-Tweet
      Support priorities, share on Facebook, Re-Tweet
  • Ban all military exports and stop profiting from war, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 15 March 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • Welfare or Warfare? Submission on Budget 2022, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 28 January 2022   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Formatted for printing
  • Military spending cut a good start, but let's have complete rethink, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 25 June 2021
  • Climate Commission: Where’s the plan to cut military emissions? Peace Movement Aotearoa, 9 June 2021
  • NZ Budget 2021: Military Spending, May 2021

    • Military spending increases in Budget 2021, 20 May 2021
        Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Formatted for printing

    • Welfare or Warfare? Submission on Budget 2021, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 15 March 2021   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet   Formatted for printing

  • Global Days of Action on Military Spending in Aotearoa New Zealand, 10 April to 17 May 2021

  • 'Climate Action for Aotearoa' excludes military activity, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 28 March 2021
  • Welfare or Warfare? Submission on Budget 2021, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 15 March 2021   Share on Facebook   Re-Tweet
  • On International Women's Day ... Peace Movement Aotearoa, 8 March 2021
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  • $250 million "to house" four new warplanes, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 16 December 2020
  • Election 2020: Let's get disarmament on the agenda, Peace Movement Aotearoa, September / October 2020
  • Launch event Election 2020: Let's get disarmament on the agenda, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 24 September 2020
  • Online discussion on military spending on Tuesday 19 May 2020 - please contact the Aotearoa New Zealand Campaign on Military Spending for details

  • Welfare or warfare? Military spending in Budget 2020, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 14 May 2020
  • Global military spending increases, New Zealand ranks in report, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 27 April 2020

    • Links   On Facebook   On Twitter   Formatted for printing
        Scoop Independent News   Fuseworks Media
    • Resources from SIPRI   'Global military expenditure sees largest annual increase in a decade - says SIPRI - reaching $1917 billion in 2019', Media Release, 27 April 2020   Trends in world military expenditure 2019 Fact Sheet, April 2020

  • Turning Swords into Ventilators? Or is it Ventilators into Swords? Cynthia Enloe, 13 April 2020
  • "If ever there were a time for brokering peace, this is it", comment on George Monbiot's opinion piece, 10 April 2020
  • #SwordsIntoPloughshares? Peace Movement Aotearoa, 10 April 2020
  • If there's one thing blindingly obvious from the #covid19 pandemic ... Peace Movement Aotearoa, 1 April 2020
  • The Foodbank Project: short term and long term solutions, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 1 April 2020
  • COVID-19 illustrates "the folly of war" and military spending, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 26 March 2020
  • "The most significant peace-time economic plan in modern NZ history", Peace Movement Aotearoa, 18 March 2020
  • On International Women's Day ..., 8 March 2020 Share on Facebook Share Tweet
  • Oral submission on Budget 2020, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 12 February 2020
  • A fairer future: fixing poverty in Aotearoa vs military spending, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 3 February 2020
  • Family hardship and military spending, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 28 January 2020
  • Submission on Budget 2020, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 23 January 2020
      share our submission on Facebook
  • Submissions due on Budget 2020: Cut military spending / support children's rights, Peace Movement Aotearoa - deadline is 24 January 2020
  • Militarisation vs climate justice, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 15 January 2020
  • 'Inequality threatening human development': New UN report released, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 11 December 2019
  • Shocking government spending priorities: 2019 Child Poverty Monitor released, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 9 December 2019
  • Welfare or warfare? Child poverty inaction, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 21 November 2019
  • Welfare or warfare? 10% of New Zealanders experience food insecurity, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 16 October 2019
  • $100 million spent on repairing airforce planes since 2016, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 3 October 2019
  • Military spending vs zero carbon Pacific shipping, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 26 September 2019
  • Buildings for new warplanes vs houses for the homeless, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 9 August 2019
  • Safe drinking water or military spending? Peace Movement Aotearoa, 6 August 2019
  • NZ 'Defence Capability Plan': $20 billion more military spending, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 11 June 2019 On Facebook Military spending image
  • NZ Wellbeing Budget: Shocking rise in military spending, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 30 May 2019 On Facebook On Twitter Fuseworks Media on Scoop
    Budget 2019 figures image poster
  • Global military spending rises again, will NZ's in this year's Budget? Peace Movement Aotearoa, 29 April 2019 On Facebook On Twitter On Scoop Fuseworks Media Formatted for printing
  • Resources from SIPRI :
    Trends in world military expenditure 2018, Fact Sheet, 29 April 2019
    World military expenditure grows to $1.8 trillion in 2018, Media Release, 29 April 2019
  • On International Women's Day ... Peace Movement Aotearoa, 8 March 2019
      on Facebook   on Twitter
  • Economic Case for Disarmament: First Committee Delegates Issue Calls to Trim Soaring Military Budgets, Reinvest Funds in Vital 2030 Agenda Goals, UN, 9 October 2018
  • $2.346 billion for four warplanes to operate with Australia, Britain and the US, NZ government, 9 July 2018
  • Budget 2018: Military spending increases again, time for alternative thinking, Peace Movement Aotearoa, 17 May 2018 On Facebook On Twitter On Scoop
    A4 poster for printing

2018 Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), 15 April to 3 May

  • 'Welfare or Warfare?' Pre-Budget lunchtime forum, Friday, 4 May - join us for a discussion on government spending priorities, with Paul Barber, Policy Advisor, New Zealand Council of Christian Social Services; Jacqui Southey, Children’s Rights Advocacy, Strategy and Research Director, Save the Children; and Edwina Hughes, Coordinator, Peace Movement Aotearoa, from 1pm to 2pm, at St Andrew's on the Terrace, Wellington. Your RSVP is essential because space is limited, please RSVP on Facebook or email Peace Movement Aotearoa. The A4 poster for the forum is available here.

  • Global military spending increases again, will NZ's in this year's Budget? Peace Movement Aotearoa, 2 May 2018 On Facebook On Twitter On Scoop Formatted for printing

  • Resources from SIPRI Trends in world military expenditure 2017, Fact Sheet, 2 May 2018 Global military spending remains high at $1.7 trillion, Media Release, 2 May 2018

  • Global Campaign on Military Spending statement: 2018 Global Days of Action on Military Spending, Global Campaign on Military Spending, 2 May 2018

  • If you would like to be involved in this year's Global Days of Action on Military Spending, please contact Peace Movement Aotearoa, thank you.

Military spending and related updates

2017 Global Days of Action on Military Spending (GDAMS), 18 to 28 April

Military spending and related updates

2016 Global Days of Action on Military Spending 2016, 5 to 18 April

2015 Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 13 April 2015 - was marked during the 2015 National Peace Workshops Remembering war / ending war: Challenging militarism and building peace, 18 and 19 April 2015

2014 Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 14 April 2014

2013 Global Day of Action on Military Spending: 15 April 2013

2012 Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 17 April 2012

2011 Global Day of Action on Military Spending, 12 April 2011

If you are interested in being involved in the Global Day of Action, or would like your organisation listed as a supporter of the Global Day of Action and of the urgent need to change spending priorities away from funding armed forces towards meeting human needs, please contact Peace Movement Aotearoa 'Global Day of Action support' in the subject line of your message.


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