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Defence Minister Judith Collins says more investment is needed for New Zealand's military to counter escalating geopolitical and regional threats.
The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) strategic plan, which will cover the next 15 years, will be released soon and is expected to reflect the growing security challenges facing the region.
Ahead of the report's release, Collins told 1News the world was changing and that Kiwis couldn't afford to think nobody could harm New Zealand.
She said: "We have an enormous economic zone – the ninth largest in the world.
"We have enormous resource wealth in this country. All these sorts of things make us vulnerable and we also have a real obligation to our Pacific neighbours, to work with them, to help them to protect their fishing grounds and their own sovereignty.
"Now we've got a big role to play and we should never rule out the fact we have to defend ourselves."
Collins said it's important New Zealand's defence capabilities had to have lethality.
"We cannot only be the really nice people who come in and sort out the terrible mess after earthquakes and volcanoes, and all those sorts of things that happen.
"We do need to have a serious lethality component."
An associate professor at Massey University's Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Anna Powles, agreed there needs to be clear messaging to the public that the Defence Force's primary role was to be a war-fighting force.
"New Zealand's sovereignty and New Zealand's security is increasingly being challenged in multiple ways … we need the capabilities to be able to both defend this country and support in the defence of our partners as well," she said.
That would include Australia in particular. In recent months, New Zealand has moved to form closer ties and intends to be as interoperable as possible with its trans-Tasman ally.
The decision comes as negotiations continue over whether the wreck should be removed or left as is. (Source: 1News)
Both countries were concerned about China's entrenched influence in the Pacific, although Collins was keen to point out that China "is a very good friend to us".
But Collins added that the region was considered a potential flashpoint and "has the potential to be an area of activity that we are not happy about".
"I think most people would expect … we're not going to look like the door's open – we are going to do something about it."
In particular, China's recent building of five so-called research bases in Antarctica and the development of more.
Collins said of the move: "It is obviously showing a change in the operations of China … it is important to understand that there's a difference between one base and five."
The decision comes as negotiations continue over whether the wreck should be removed or left as is.
New Zealand
Sun, Jan 19
2:43
Powles said New Zealand would have very strong concerns about the disruptive nature of China within the Antarctic treaty system and the potential of being outflanked both in the north and south.
"Small countries like New Zealand are increasingly going to find that their strategic choices are being squeezed as the strategic environment becomes increasingly fraught and heightened."
