An Air Force C-130 Hercules at the Ōhakea base.
Photo: Supplied / New Zealand Defence Force
The government could consider using private companies to build infrastructure at the Ōhakea Air Force base, but says security is still a top priority.
Last week, RNZ revealed the Defence Force did not put a $200 million upgrade programme for the base up for consideration in this year’s Budget.
The programme includes a new accommodation block and explosive storage facility.
The justification was that prioritisation was needed for other defence projects that were announced as part of a $571 million package in Budget 2024.
Associate Defence Minister Chris Penk told RNZ that public private partnerships were an option for financing new and regenerating existing infrastructure on the defence estate.
He said preferred options would be looked at on a case-by-case basis as business cases were considered by the government, including in relation to work at Ōhakea and Linton army camp near Palmerston North.
Penk could not confirm whether the $200 million Ōhakea Infrastructure Programme was specifically being considered to be funded via a PPP.
He told RNZ he expected to announce further details about PPPs in relation to the defence estate and infrastructure in the coming months.
He said that security was a top priority when considering any decisions in that space.
“Any decision to use private sector financing would be predicated on having absolute confidence that rigorous security requirements would be met.”
In June, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop signalled the government’s intentions to pay for more major projects via private sector financing, such as PPPs.
“The simple point is that we can’t buy our way out of our infrastructure deficit. It’s built up over many years,” he said.