Currently, our Sailors, Soldiers and Aviators are disadvantaged by their service to Aotearoa New Zealand.
At Mission Homefront, we are committed to the wellbeing of New Zealand’s Service personnel and their whānau.
Our mission is to strengthen the foundations of the New Zealand Defence Force - its people. We want to ensure better pay, conditions of service, living conditions, and welfare for those who serve, through a “whole whānau” approach.
We provide practical assistance, advice, and advocacy to personnel from housing and tenancy rights, to how to access and utilise NZDF channels.
Acting as an independent voice of those who serve, we represent their interests to Government, policy discussions, and in the media, whilst also raising awareness of the true cost of service and the importance of investing in the people behind the uniform.
We also aim to foster morale and build community through events and initiatives, ensuring no whānau has to navigate the military lifestyle alone.
OUR OBJECTIVES
Ensure our sailors, soldiers and aviators are compensated for their service
We would like to see a 28% pay increase to NZDF base salaries, and to see the military factor applied over and above base salaries in order to recognise the rights and limitations involved in being subject to service law.
The “Total Remuneration” model applied by the NZDF has led to base salaries becoming more and more out of step with the wider sector, little attention being paid to the Military Factor, and effectively a 0% employer contribution to Kiwisaver schemes.
If this cannot be achieved, we believe NZDF salaries should be brought under the remit of the Independent Remuneration Authority to protect personnel and their pay now and into the future.
Under total remuneration agreements, Defence personnel have their KiwiSaver contributions included as part of their salary, unlike civilian employees who can negotiate these terms.
Since Defence personnel cannot opt out or bargain in good faith, their total pay is reduced by the KiwiSaver contribution rather than receiving it on top of their salary.
This effectively means they receive a 0% employer contribution, as the KiwiSaver amount is deducted from their overall remuneration package instead of being an additional benefit.
Priority investment in housing and barracks
The Defence Estate is $400milllion plus behind in maintenance and has been described at the end of its useful life. The repair and replacement of housing and barracks, raising them to a modern, healthy, and safe standard needs to be an urgent and fully funded priority for the Government and NZDF.
The Government recognises that most of the housing stock is over 60 years old, does not meet modern functionality, are in marginal physical condition and are past their useful life.
Currently, 263 homes do not meet the Healthy Homes standards. However, the NZDF and Government has recognised itself that in itself is a minimum standard, and the houses that do meet the standard still do not provide improvement to the current poor condition and layout of Defence housing, leaving them unfit for modern living and a contributing factor to the current rates of attrition
We beliebe the ‘Defence Force Housing Programme’ is entirely inadequate to deal with the real and current issues - despite it’s aim to deliver 1,628 modern, quality houses - it is unfunded, relying on the annual Budget process for approval and set for a 25 year delivery plan.
Restore Conditions of Service
Conditions of service are vital to ensure military personnel and their families are properly supported and recompensed for their service, and not disadvantaged. We believe conditions of service should be restored or improved, including but not limited to:
-Leave provisions (long leave and incentive leave)
-Relocation and transfer grants, housing allowances & Temporary Employment Support (financial grants or stipends for spouses who lose employment due to the location of their posting)
- Child and Family Care and Support Plans & subsidised on base childcare,
- Medical provisions
- Pension and Kiwisaver improvements
-Education funding through Terminal Education Benefits and Voluntary Education Study Assistance (VESA).
Where Did Mission Homefront Start?
In May 2024, Mission Homefront Co-Founder Erin Speedy published an open letter to the Minister of Defence and Government detailing the struggles of being a military whanau.
The amount of support she received spurred her to collect her own submissions of people’s lived experiences and stories and launch the campaign “Mission Homefront” in July 2024 to raise public awareness of the conditions serving personnel were facing.
“It became abundantly clear that something needed to be done, that New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) personnel and their families were crying out for help and support but it is an empty void,” she said.
In September, retired Lieutenant Colonel Hayden Ricketts who is deeply passionate about the soldiers, sailors and aviators who serve this country came on board as a director, transforming Mission Homefront from a campaign into an organisation.
“By far the most severe repercussion of low levels of investment is on our soldiers, sailors and aviators of the Army, Navy, and Airforce. These people have a special status in our society yet have been treated poorly, and have largely been taken advantage of by successive governments that don’t either understand military service, refuse to try, or have been negligent in providing the resources required by our servicepeople.”