Our speaker was Commander Phil Bradshaw RNZN, Chief of Staff Defence Logistics Command, an interesting title that covers quite a range of areas.  

Phil covered the work the navy does, mainly patrols and disaster relief. He explained that the area the NZ Navy covers is way bigger than say that of the British Navy, if they were to cover a similar area they would be well into the middle east and almost across the Atlantic. The vessels we use are often custom built for the Southern Pacific Ocean as there is nothing much in the Northern hemisphere that compares, the distances involved mean long trips, with just getting to an area of operations often taking weeks not days. Judging by the questions afterwards Phil’s presentation obviously generated a good deal of interest.