Arms cuts: care urged

Press, 18 April 1979, Page 6

Arms cuts: care urged

New Zealand must not let’ its armed forces decline to' the point where the country was not prepared for any threat, said the Minister of Defence (Mr Gill) last even- ;■ ingHe told the Christchurch! Tin Hat Club that the ser-| vices depended on such groups as the club to sup-; port the Government when! it said it could make noi more cuts in defence. “You cannot have an inter-regnum of five years. It is very difficult once you; have let it go, to pick it up again." he said. Many people today did not l know the “trials and tribuia-' tions. the losses and the mad rush” that had been caused before World War’ Two because New Zealand, had not been prepared. “Although we do not know where the threat is; going to come from, what the threat is going to be, it behoves us to be prepared,” Mr Gill said. ii

r New Zealand had an excellent force which had trained with its allies, who knew from day-to-day! contact “just how good our! chaps are,” he said. Some equipment needed ! updating: the Centurion .tanks, the frigate Otago,; 'equipment aboard the Orion Mr Gill had some biting comments for the Air New Zealand domestic pilots who went on strike last week. (They had said they were under such stress it would! have been dangerous fori ‘them to fly. “To think about those poor Air New Zealand pilots, under such stress they; would have been dangerous, .sitting on. their pay-packets.; afraid they would hit ’.he! roof — I, think about our Skvhawk pilots. They do not; feel the stress: thev have a job of work to do, they have, not got time to worry,” Mr' j Gill said. I