Defence Minister Andrew Little says the Inspector-General would have the power to look at any information held by the New Zealand Defence Force. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
An independent watchdog for the Defence Force will be established after the Inspector-General of Defence Bill passed its third reading under urgency in Parliament.
Defence Minister Andrew Little said the Inspector will be a watchdog for the Defence Force.
"The purpose of this office will be to facilitate independent oversight of the activities of the New Zealand Defence Force," he said.
"The establishment of this office is significant as it goes to the heart of two fundamentals in democratic society - that there is civilian control of the military and that there is ministerial accountability to Parliament."
He said the Inspector-General of Defence would be an independent statutory office similar to the current Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security.
It would have the power to investigate any activity or matter related to New Zealand Defence Force with the exception of Veterans Affairs.
"The Inspector-General has broad-ranging powers and can launch an investigation on their own initiative, or after they've received a referral from the Minister of Defence, Secretary of Defence or Chief of Defence Force."
Little told Morning Report the office of the Inspector-General of Defence would also include a Deputy Inspector-General.
"In terms of resources [for the watchdog] that is yet to be established, there's a bit of scoping to do about what we think the volume of work will be."
"The power that they have is to look at any information that the Defence Force has" - Defence Minister Andrew Little
The establishment of the office was one of four key recommendations from the Operation Burnham Inquiry, launched in response to the 2017 book Hit & Run by Jon Stephenson and Nicky Hager.
The inquiry found that while the Defence Force operations in Afghanistan in 2010 were legal, a child was killed and inaccurate statements were made afterwards.
The Bill was introduced in October last year and considered submissions from members of the public as well as independent advice from Former Supreme Court Judge Sir Kenneth Keith.
Labour, ACT, Te Pāti Māori, the Greens and independent MPs Elizabeth Kerekere and Meka Whatiri voted for the bill at its third reading. National were opposed.