NZDF joins forces with strategic partners to deliver estate regeneration

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) has formed an alliance with professional services firms EY and Beca to help deliver the $2.1 billion regeneration of their Defence estate.

NZDF is four years into its 15 year plan to regenerate their Defence estate. The professional services alliance is for five years with options to extend by up to six years.

Head of Estate and Infrastructure Mark Brunton said the alliance with EY and Beca will help accelerate the biggest renewal of the Defence estate in its history, delivering a sustainable estate that enables the delivery of Defence outputs.

“This is a game changer for the way we partner with industry to deliver infrastructure in New Zealand. The alliance will improve our resilience and self-sufficiency, and maximise technology and innovation. It will also reduce the risk created by the scale and pace of this regeneration,” said Mr Brunton.

“New Zealand has a world class Defence Force. To support this we need a Defence estate that has the right infrastructure, in the right places, that is safe and supports the delivery of the important work that is delivered by our personnel every day of the year. This alliance is an innovative way to deliver estate infrastructure both effectively and efficiently which will result in greater public value.”

Grant Hodges, EY Partner, said, “We are incredibly excited about the opportunity to work with the NZDF to develop innovative solutions and deliver a Defence estate that supports the 14,000 men and women who work and live on the Defence estate.”

“The whakataukī that underpins our approach speaks to bringing the best of all parties in the alliance to achieve this: Nāku te rourou, nōu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi – with your food basket and my food basket, the people will thrive,” he said.

“The whakataukī / Māori proverb Nāku te rourou, nōu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi sits at the heart of what the NZDF engagement means to us. It speaks directly to not only what we will do, but why we will do it - combine our capabilities with NZDF to deliver a prosperous physical and human estate for those people who live in, train in, manage, maintain and otherwise connect with it.”

Thomas Hyde, Beca Chief Digital Officer, said, “We are absolutely thrilled to be working with the Defence Estate and Infrastructure team to deliver this important regeneration programme for the NZDF. Investment on this scale will fundamentally change the way we can deliver large scale infrastructure transformation programmes in New Zealand.”

Partnering with EY and Beca enables NZDF to easily tap into the expertise and services both companies have, which includes financial, economic and commercial advice, business transformation, portfolio programme management and procurement, engineering – structural, building services, civil, airfields and maritime – regulatory and resource consenting advice, architecture and construction contract management.

The list of projects being worked on in the first 12 months of the Alliance is extensive and supports new and upgraded facilities across most camps and bases. Ohakea Air Base and Burnham Military Camp will benefit most in the first phase.

A key role of the Alliance will be to leverage the scale of the regeneration to deliver a sustainable Defence estate. Tuku Iho, the Defence estate’s sustainability strategy, will see the enhancement and protection of Defence estate’s natural, financial, manufactured, intellectual, social and human capital.

“DEI, with EY and Beca, are rapidly mobilising to start building a better future for NZDF - one with better infrastructure, better camps and bases and better workplaces for our 14,000 military and civilian staff so that we continue to protect and enhance the security of New Zealanders and our neighbours,” DEI Head Mark Brunton said.