The Defence Minister has hit back at reports of low morale in the Defence Force, saying the mood of people in the military is actually improving.
A quarterly attitude survey leaked to the Labour Party shows just 4% of Defence personnel ranked workplace morale as very high or excellent.
The survey also shows that a fifth of military personnel, or 21%, are actively looking to get out and only 11% strongly agreed they would recommend the military as a great place to work.
Labour's defence spokesperson Phil Goff said those responses are a huge worry.
But the minister, Jonathan Coleman, says the figures Labour is quoting are outdated.
He says in the three months to April this year, 79% of Defence personnel rated their personal morale as satisfactory or better.
Dr Coleman says the attrition rate in the Army, Navy and Air Force is presently about 16%, which he says is just above target.
