Air Vice-Marshal Darryn 'Digby' Webb, Major General Rose King and Rear Admiral Garin Golding, heads of the airforce, army, and navy. Photo: Craig McCulloch/RNZ
For the first time New Zealand's army will officially have a woman in the top job, with Brigadier Rose King to be promoted to major general.
Defence Minister Judith Collins made the announcement on Wednesday morning as she unveiled the Defence Force's (NZDF) refreshed leadership line-up.
King is the first woman to be appointed a service chief across all of New Zealand's armed forces, and the first to reach the rank of major general.
Commodore Garin Golding will also be promoted to rear admiral, taking charge of the navy from Rear Admiral David Proctor.
Both King and Golding will be appointed for three years from 27 August, along with Air Vice-Marshal Darryn 'Digby' Webb who has been chief of air force since last year.
All three will report to Defence Force Chief Air Marshal Tony Davies, who took over from Air Marshal Kevin Short in June.
Speaking at the announcement at Parliament, King said her appointment was a "huge honour and privilege" and noted the significant change across the organisation since she signed up in 1991.
"When I first joined, I couldn't join certain areas of our organisation based on my gender, but now that's open to everyone."
King - who had been acting in the top role since June - said she brought a different approach to leadership as a woman and mother of two.
"Perhaps that empathy piece," she said. "That's a little bit of a point of difference that I bring... Diversity of thought for me is really important and makes us stronger as a team."
Collins also remarked on the "pretty amazing" occasion, stressing that King had earned her promotion through "full merit".
"It's a great thing for everybody in the service to know: you do the work, you take the opportunities available, and you too could one day be chief of army."
King has been acting chief of army since June, and before that was deputy. King enlisted in July 1991 and graduated into the Corps of Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers a year later.
Golding has been NZDF maritime component commander since 2021, and was deputy chief of navy in 2019. He joined the navy in 1988 as a seaman officer.
Davies also announced the appointments of Commodore Mat Williams as vice chief of Defence Force and Brigadier Rob Krushka as commander Joint Forces New Zealand.
'We've cut everything else right down'
Asked about the state of the Defence Force, Davies acknowledged recent challenges with attrition and remuneration.
"We went through a long period where pay was lacking, way behind where it should have been," he said. "We've brought that up to - where we can - close to market rates."
Davies said that had helped bring attrition back to 8 percent, about half its peak, but noted the workforce remained "a bit hollow" in some areas.
He said the organisation was under a lot of financial pressure, particularly given the rising costs of fuel and ammunition.
"There are some things we are doing at the moment that are not affordable, even though they are good things to do."
As a result, NZDF would be pausing some functions and reconsidering some roles.
"People is the last thing we wanted to look at. We've cut everything else right down. Unfortunately, we still need to close the gap with funding."
A spokesperson for the minister later clarified to RNZ that the defence force chief was not talking about cuts to uniformed personnel.
Asked about the state of the ageing Boeing 757s, Webb acknowledged the planes were reaching the end of their lives.
"I mean, they are just over 30 years old. I'm not sure how old your car is, but probably not that old."
Judith Collins Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Despite that, Webb said the aircraft were a "great machine" and had been extremely busy over the past three months.
"They do well for us, and we continue to make them as serviceable as we possibly can."
Collins said work was continuing on a potential replacement, but there would not be a quick fix.
"It's not like going down to the shop and buying a handbag, you know, it takes quite a while."
She said the new leadership team would be critical to the review of the country's defence capabilities, currently underway.
"It's just really important that we get it right," she said. "We don't live in a benign, strategic environment, if we ever did. We live in a very challenging geopolitical time."
Williams, who is heading the Defence Capability Plan, said he expected to deliver the plan to the minister in the next four to six weeks.