I recently received a response from parliament. The short version is that there has been no change yet, but in the interest of transparency I have included the response I received and my reply to it.
The original response was a PDF which I have transcribed as it contained my email address:
Tena koe Finn
Thank you for your regular emails updating the Prime Minister and myself on your petition to donate surplus New Zealand Light Armoured Vehicles (NZLAVs) to Ukraine. The Prime Minister asked me to respond on behalf of both of us.
The Prime Minister stated in her Post-Cabinet press conference of 4 April 2022 that the stores of military equipment that New Zealand has are somewhat limited relative to other countries. As you may be aware, 22 of the 30 surplus NZLAVs have been sold to the Chilean Navy. The transport of these vehicles will not be completed until 2023.
Cabinet continues to consider a range of options and how New Zealand can make a material difference in supporting Ukraine right now.
Naku noa, na
Signature
And my response:
Hello Hon Peeni Henare and Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern,
Thank you for taking the time to answer my emails regarding the petition to gift New Zealand's surplus armoured vehicles to Ukraine.
As this response was sent on behalf of both yourself and the Prime Minister, I would appreciate it if you shared this reply with the Prime Minister also.
To start, I would like to acknowledge the support the New Zealand government has already supplied to Ukraine. I am aware of the humanitarian aid, the work that the C-130 Hercules did in Europe transporting equipment to Ukraine, the training provided by the NZDF on the use of L119 artillery, the intelligence work, contributions to the NATO Trust Fund, funding for the International Criminal Court, etc. This is all good work, and I approve of all of this. I also approve of the New Zealand government continuing to explore ways to assist Ukraine. I have several additional ideas on ways New Zealand can help, but it is a long list, so I will put that in a different update.
I am also already aware of the sale of 22 of the NZLAVs to Chile, and I am aware of what the Prime Minister said during the press conference.
I do however have several points to make about this.
The first point is a clarification/question around vehicle numbers. The number of vehicles that were put up for sale was 30. This means that 8 are left over from this sale. But this article from 2020 makes it sound like the total number of surplus vehicles may actually be 40:
In it, the former Minister of Defence stated: "as many as 40 might prove fit for sale or modification".
I am also unsure about whether the NZDF receiving its 43 Bushmasters from Australia later this year will result in the increase of surplus NZLAVs, even though technically the Bushmaster is a replacement for the Pinzgauer.
Anyway, there are at least 8 surplus vehicles, and 18 if the 40 total is true.
My next point is around New Zealand's stockpile of military equipment. Yes it is true our stockpiles are small compared to other countries but I don't believe this is a good reason to not send what surplus we have. After all you could apply the same argument to humanitarian aid. New Zealand will never be able to supply as much humanitarian aid as a much bigger, richer country like the US, but that hasn't prevented us from supplying what we can. Nobody is asking New Zealand to supply as much military aid as the US, we are only asking New Zealand to supply what it can, and it certainly can when this equipment is surplus. One of the advantages of Ukraine having an alliance of approximately 50 countries supporting it is that even small contributions from small countries add up to a lot in total when combined across all countries.
In addition, New Zealand actually already has sent some military equipment - we sent ballistic vests, helmets and L119 gun sights as well as practice ammunition.
I also do not think the argument that getting the equipment to Ukraine would be too logistically difficult is valid. Australia is also a very long way from Ukraine and it has sent equipment half way round the world, both on Globemasters and on Ukrainian An-124 Antonov transport aircraft. I am fairly confident that if we offered to supply Ukraine with equipment like this that they would actually transport it for us on their Antonov cargo aircraft. Even the UK could help us get the equipment to Europe, as they did when we travelled to Europe for the L119 training. There are lots of options here.
One final point I would like to make, and I think this is important - this petition is no longer just about what I personally want. Quite a few of the people who have signed this petition are Ukrainian New Zealanders. As the person who started this petition I have an obligation to all the people who have supported it (and there are now thousands) to see it through to a satisfactory conclusion.
Thank you for your time,
Finn