National security objectives

Seven key objectives underpin the “all hazards” approach New Zealand takes to national security.

1. Ensuring public safety — providing for, and mitigating risks to, the safety of citizens and communities (all hazards and threats, whether natural or man-made);
2. Preserving sovereignty and territorial integrity — protecting the physical security of citizens, and exercising control over territory consistent with national sovereignty;
3. Protecting lines of communication — these are both physical and virtual and allow New Zealand to communicate, trade and engage globally;
4. Strengthening international order to promote security — contributing to the development of a rules-based international system, and engaging in targeted interventions offshore to protect New Zealand’s interests;
5. Sustaining economic prosperity — maintaining and advancing the economic wellbeing of individuals, families, businesses and communities;
6. Maintaining democratic institutions and national values — preventing activities aimed at undermining or overturning government institutions, principles and values that underpin New Zealand society;
7. Protecting the natural environment — contributing to the preservation and stewardship of New Zealand’s natural and physical environment.