On the back of the New Zealand Government's Budget 2021, Simon Ewing-Jarvie and Heather Roy discuss how much money is allocated to national security on an 'all agencies' approach rather than the traditional view of defence force funding.

What is apparent is that current financial appropriations are insufficient for building national self-reliance and resilience. The discussion focusses on current gross domestic product and rates of growth  as the basis for being able to afford better levels of national security.  Heather draws on her experience as a former government minister to highlight ways in which GDP growth could be achieved including debt reduction, immigration, working smarter not harder and automation.

Data from Statistics NZ, the World Bank and NZ's Productivity Commission underpin this wide-ranging approach to funding national security.