Public Annotation – Overseas Military and Aid Expenditure (#33154)

Thank you to the Ministry of Defence for responding to this request.

1. Verified Transfer – $1.5m (Corroborated)

The response confirms that $1.5 million was transferred from Vote Defence to Vote Foreign Affairs in 2023/24 for support related to Ukraine.

This figure is independently corroborated in the Supplementary Estimates (Vote Foreign Affairs) published by Treasury, which records the inter-Vote transfer.

This component of the response appears accurate and verifiable against public financial documents.

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2. “Link-Out Substitution” Pattern

However, the core request sought:
• A comprehensive itemised breakdown of all funds allocated/committed/transferred since 1 January 2023,
• Categorised by recipient country, agency, or programme, and
• Supported by decision documentation and due diligence material.

Instead of supplying a consolidated breakdown or dataset, the response primarily:
• Identifies a single confirmed transfer ($1.5m),
• Directs readers to publicly available Cabinet material and Budget documents.

This approach amounts to what may be described as “link-out substitution” — where references to public documents are provided in place of a structured, consolidated answer to the specific scope requested.

While public documents are useful, they do not substitute for:
• A single ledger-style register of overseas defence-related spending since 1 January 2023,
• Nor do they clearly distinguish allocated vs committed vs disbursed amounts.

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3. Fragmentation Across Agencies

This request sits alongside parallel request:
• #33153 – Overseas Military and Aid Expenditure (MFAT)

Taken together, the responses from MoD and MFAT illustrate a fragmentation issue:
• MoD identifies a Vote transfer,
• MFAT holds operational aid expenditure streams,
• Neither response appears to present a consolidated national spending picture.

Researchers should review both threads together to understand the inter-agency split.

Other related FYI requests listed on the page (including defence agreements and Ukraine support material) may also assist triangulation.

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4. What Has Not Yet Been Provided (Research Roadmap)

The following requested elements do not appear to have been fully supplied:
1. A complete, itemised breakdown (spreadsheet format) of:
• All funds allocated, committed, or transferred since 1 January 2023,
• By country, agency, programme, and Vote source.
2. Clear distinction between:
• Allocations,
• Commitments,
• Disbursements.
3. Linked decision-chain documentation for each material expenditure:
• Cabinet papers,
• Ministerial briefings,
• Treasury advice.
4. Due diligence and risk assessment documentation:
• Procurement/probity checks,
• Compliance assessments,
• Partner vetting.
5. Monitoring and evaluation material where applicable.

Without a consolidated spending register, readers must manually reconstruct the picture across:
• Budget documents,
• Supplementary Estimates,
• Cabinet publications,
• Separate agency responses.

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5. Current State

The request is marked “successful” on FYI.

However, in practical terms, the response provides:
• A verified single transfer,
• Public document references,
• But not a comprehensive, consolidated breakdown of overseas defence/security-related spending since 1 January 2023.

Researchers, journalists, and interested members of the public may wish to review:
• #33154 (MoD)
• #33153 (MFAT)
• Treasury Supplementary Estimates
• Cabinet publications relating to Ukraine and overseas support

to assemble a fuller national picture.