The news that New Zealand is going to spend 12 billion dollars on defence is not news to welcome, and yet it is welcome news. 

In an unsettled world, defence is essential. And the equation for a credible defence is spending 2 percent of GDP. 

So now within 8 years we’ll get to that target - it’s a doubling.  

The question is why we are only just doing this now.

If we’d spent that for the past 30 years we would not be facing so dramatic a spend today. 

But we didn’t. Fat and complacent in a mistaken belief that we were safe and sound, and if something went wrong our friends would come and save us. 

For as long as I’ve been in the news business, Australia and the States have warned that coat tailing did not cut it and that we had to do our bit. So fair play to Judith Collins, she’s finally accepting the responsibility that we’ve always needed. 

But it comes at a difficult time. 

Firstly, the world has become more dangerous so time is of the essence. And secondly, we’re broke. 

It comes at a time when barely reported mass redundancies are happening in defence to meet government spending targets.  

And yet they’ve also announced this new plan. They fire with one hand and employ with another. 

But you can argue that both are necessary because we’ve sat on our hands for so long. And we’ve spent irresponsibly.