Government ministers say the breakdown of the Defence Force Boeings is “embarrassing” and results in “pitying looks” from foreign ’ politicians – but no moves to speed up replacing them are on the cards. 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had to take a last-minute commercial flight for his trip to Melbourne to meet Asean leaders today after a problem with the Air Force Boeing 757 left it grounded in Wellington. The plane was still on the ground by 11am as maintenance crew worked to narrow down and fix what has been described as a major electrical fault, picked up during a pre-flight check. 

Media travelling with Luxon were also still grounded, but there was optimism it would make it to Australia today to bring Luxon back to New Zealand tomorrow. 

Speaking on the way into caucus this morning, Defence Minister Judith Collins said it was “embarrassing” – but there was not the money to replace the planes anytime soon. 

Asked if other countries’ politicians laughed at New Zealand when its planes broke down, she said “I don’t think they’re that cruel to our face”. 

“But they do give us those pitying looks, which is very annoying. But, you know, my moment’s annoyance should not be paid for by the taxpayers”. 

Collins said it was not sustainable to keep the planes going in the longer term and she had brought forward a review of the capability of the Defence Force from September to June to look at what was needed. 

“The Defence Force has been doing very good work with very, very old kit. These are over 30 years old, and it’s simply not sustainable in the long term. We know we need them to have better kit, and it’s a matter of money. I haven’t got the money.” 

“We are in a cost-of-living crisis. We don’t have, frankly, the money that we need to put in place those sorts of assets right at the moment.” 

She said New Zealanders might well also feel it was embarrassing, but were facing a cost-of-living crunch. 

• PM flying commercial to Oz after fault on Air Force plane

“A moment’s embarrassment is really difficult, but nothing like the fact we are in a cost-of-living crisis. Right now, you’ve got to read the room.” 

She said the cost of replacing the planes would run into the hundreds of millions and even leasing aircraft would be very expensive, she said. 

On the costs of maintaining them, Collins drew a comparison with classic cars, saying they, too, had a high maintenance cost. 

Finance Minister Nicola Willis says priorities should be considered when assessing what Defence Force assets should be upgraded first. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

National deputy leader and Finance Minister Nicola Willis accepted the plane’s breakdown was “not ideal” and she was sympathetic to journalists who might be unable to report on Luxon’s movements in Australia. 

She disagreed when asked whether the plane’s woes made New Zealand look like a backwater country. 

Willis believed it was important to assess the future of the Defence Force and what assets it needed, noting its priority was defending New Zealand and not getting the PM to meetings. 

Police Minister Mark Mitchell – a former Defence Minister – also said it was disappointing the plane had broken down and Luxon had to make his own way to Australia and miss some important meetings. 

“Of course it’s embarrassing. I don’t know what it is, whether it needs a better maintenance programme, that’s a matter for Defence.” 

He said it was not his call whether they should be replaced, saying Defence would be looking at why it couldn’t keep the planes in the air to get the Prime Minister, the accompanying media and business delegates to meetings. 

Labour leader Chris Hipkins supported replacing the 757s. 

“I think it’s time that we did look at the 757 bearing in mind that the VIP travel is actually only a very small component of what they do. 

“If [the Government] decided to upgrade the 757, they’ll have my support.