Amy Adams off to sea

Selwyn MP Amy Adams is off to sea next week, joining the Navy for five days as the first participant in the New Zealand Defence Force Parliamentarian Scheme.

The new scheme embeds MPs into the Army, Navy or Air Force to give them an inside view as to how the NZDF operates.

"I'm very excited to be the pilot politician for this new scheme," Ms Adams said. "Like many of my political colleagues, I have no direct experience of how our service men and women train or the range of tasks they undertake. We owe it to them to get a better understanding of the challenges they face."

From Monday 10 May Ms Adams will spend three days at Devonport Naval Base, participating in the full range of naval trades and training. She will then join HMNZS Pukaki for two days at sea on a patrol and training mission sailing from Mt Maunganui to Gisborne.

Similar Parliamentary schemes exist in the UK and Australia.  Ms Adams and Defence Minister Wayne Mapp have been working on developing the New Zealand initiative with the NZDF since late last year.

 "We ask a lot of our NZDF personnel. This scheme allows the people that make the decisions about how we use our military to get first-hand knowledge of what they can do. Amy will be mixing with the full range of personnel, from Ordinary Seamen to Admirals. It is an action-packed programme," the Minister said.

More MPs will be invited to participate in the scheme as operational commitments allow.