Reflections on a Week in the Navy
A fortnight after her week in the Navy, Amy Adams MP spoke with the Editor…
Previously I had had zero to do with the Navy; I live in mid-Canterbury, near Burnham, and once I became an MP I had several [formal or semi-formal] visits to the Army Camp. I also saw the Limited Service Volunteer scheme [now the Youth Development Unit] in Burnham and that sparked my interest in the influence the armed forces can have. I saw leadership and mentoring for the trainees from [the instructors]—quite young people. It’s not until you challenge your thinking that you look at things afresh—I realised that I did hold some stereotypes and pre-conceived notions that were not based on any sort of knowledge.
On a Parliamentary trip to the UK I learned of the UK Parliamentary scheme, created and run by Sir Neil Thorne, for MPs to gain experience of the armed forces. I heard about how successful that had been. As MPs we can’t be experts on everything, but it worried me how few MPs have any military experience or knowledge at all. If we are going to increase the level of understanding we need to expose more MPs to the Defence Force. Briefings are all very well, and official visits—a cup of tea and handshakes—are necessary, but quite limited in helping us to understand the Services. There is no substitute for direct experience and increasing MP’s understanding about the Services must ultimately be to the benefit of the Defence Force.
So I put my hand up and went to the Minister of Defence [The Hon Wayne Mapp] with the idea and the Minister saw the benefits a scheme like this could have. The Minster and I then worked on the concept with Defence HQ and this opportunity for my Navy experience was agreed. We MPs do lead very busy lives, so investing a week takes a big effort and a lot of co-ordination, but the rewards are massive. Perhaps not everyone who undertakes it will come out as much of a convert as I did, but the better informed the various circles of MPs can be, the better quality for our debates.
Parliament is about balance, and no Minister works in isolation. They work with Cabinet, with the select committees and with their party. Defence spending is a big part of the Budget and it’s important we all understand what Defence is doing and why. I am keen to encourage other MPs to take opportunities like this; to get a mixture of back bench MPs out to experience the armed forces. Not everyone will be as enthusiastic as I (now) am, but say we get 10 MPs out there I’m hopeful we might end up with eight strong advocates for the Defence Force.
The enthusiasm that is in my blog, is a very genuine sense of enthusiasm; I came out of my week with the Navy on such a high. The week surpassed my expectations. I deliberately chose the Navy as I previously had no sense of how they fill their days. I don’t even have a sailing background (despite growing up on Auckland’s North Shore). I had been on the Picton ferry, but that was about it.
Total Immersion. The best part was getting to spend time with, and talk to sailors of all ages and ranks; it was a total immersion for me, but even a week was not enough! It’s strange that the Navy in New Zealand has such a low profile—we have a long coastline, a big EEZ (the 4th or 5th largest in the world) and we depend on international trade across the sea and our nation contributes across the globe in an international context. So as New Zealanders we should be more aware of the Navy and the sea around us. And we should be explaining this to the public.
I enjoyed meeting the sailors and was always interested to hear how they came to join. And we discussed the big issues too. The training and mentoring side impressed me; an exercise would be held, then it would be thoroughly debriefed to learn the lessons. And I was fascinated to learn more of the interaction between agencies—that is an aspect that was good to see.
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