Cheap chopper deal not such a great idea?

Plans to buy hand-me-down Australian navy helicopters sound suspiciously like a dirty deal about to be done bad, Labour's Defence Spokesperson Iain Lees-Galloway.

"The Defence Minister insists that 'a hell of a lot of work' has gone into looking at the air worthiness of the refurbished helicopters the government plans as replacements for our Seasprites.

“This is equipment Australia has rejected as not being up to scratch, yet Jonathan Coleman insists it will add the capability the New Zealand Defence Force needs.

“If that's really the case and it really is such a good deal, then he should show New Zealanders how he has come to that conclusion,” Iain Lees-Galloway said.

"The New Zealand Defence Force deserves better than cheap cast-offs that the current owner is desperately trying to get rid of. 

"The Australian Seasprites are an internationally notorious example of defence procurement gone horribly wrong after attempts to build bespoke capability from scratch resulted in massive cost blow outs for the Australian Defence Force.

"The last thing we need is to find we have more defence equipment that no one can help us with if it breaks down. 

"Jonathon Coleman has found all sorts of spurious reasons not to release information about his plans to cut the defence force budget and personnel morale.

“He needs to stop hiding from public scrutiny and enlighten us as to why he thinks this is a good deal,” said Iain Lees-Galloway.