Defence Budget Quotes

I understand all the problems for the Ministry of Defence, of course I do; working within a budget and trying to do so many things is not easy.

I am extremely honoured to be the Defence Secretary, and I would not do the job if I did not think that I could make a useful contribution in the role.

It is a fact that the US defence budget is larger than the defence budgets of all other countries taken together. This is why I understand the US President when he says that his NATO allies should take over part of this burden. It is a pragmatic and understandable approach.

India is the second biggest defence procurer in the world after the U.S.

I don't want to get all lefty, but if we took the defence budgets from around the world, we could end hunger everywhere. I would hope that all the world's leaders are thinking about poverty. Get to work. Do something. This is something that's going to be with us forever.

As fiscal constraints impinge on defence and diplomacy, governments find themselves increasingly homebound, even if diplomats happily travel to summits.

I was Minister for the Armed Forces in the Ministry of Defence for two years prior to being appointed Defence Secretary.

A ten per cent reduction in military expenditures per year would be reasonable, coupled with a programme of retraining the workforce and redirecting the resources in a manner that creates employment and advances social welfare. I also encourage all States to contribute to the UN's annual Report on Military Expenditures by submitting complete data on national defence budgets.

New Zealand's taken some very significant decisions in relation to defence in the last two years.