Peace Action Seeks Auditor-General Inquiry Into Defence Contracts

Peace Action Wellington has written to the Auditor-General seeking an urgent inquiry into the spending activities and decisions of the NZDF and Ministry of Defence in light of recent reporting.

Journlaist Andrea Vance writing in The Post on 13 October 2026 stated: 'Engineering giant Beca was awarded more than $237 million in Defence Force contracts while its chief executive chaired a government defence advisory body, including $40m in work awarded without an open tender.'

In August 2026 NZDF awarded a further contract with Saab without any tender process. This was not publicly reported in New Zealand at all, but does feature in international defence reporting: New Zealand upgrades Army firepower with Saab Carl-Gustaf M4 weapon systems to replace ageing M3 inventory from 2027 in Defence Industry Europe

These situations (and perhaps others), seen in the context of the practices and activities identified in the 2025 Auditor General Letter to New Zealand Defence Force: Managing gifts and hospitality - that specifically identified Beca - raises further questions about the nature of public spending by the NZDF and Ministry of Defence.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

"The NZDF and Ministry of Defence dream up justifications for giving contracts to business mates, failing to conduct open tenders, and making completely opaque public spending decisions worth hundreds of millions of dollars with no real public accountability or oversight of the activities. It is an old story of profiteering and price gouging by the world's biggest and most destructive industry, but it is totally unacceptable, and the Auditor-General needs to turn the bright spotlight back onto it," said Valerie Morse, member of Peace Action Wellington.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading