New Zealand Defence Force chief Air Marshal Tony Davies resigns citing past inappropriate relationship

Vice Chief of Defence Force, Rear Admiral Mat Williams is expected to step into the role and serve as Acting Chief of Defence Force.

“The resignation is for personal reasons, and results from errors of judgement made by me in the past, for which I am taking responsibility. The errors of judgement were contrary to the values of the Defence Force,” according to Air Marshal Davies.

“These matters revolved around an inappropriate relationship I had when in a position of unit command, and I regret not disclosing this when I had the opportunity to do so.”

Air Marshal Davies said his focus was on his family at this time, and asked for privacy, according to the NZDF.

The New Zealand Defence Force has referred the matter to the Inspector-General of Defence.

Robert Dougherty

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Robert is a senior journalist who has previously worked for Seven West Media in Western Australia, as well as Fairfax Media and Australian Community Media in New South Wales. He has produced national headlines, photography and videography of emergency services, business, community, defence and government news across Australia. Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Arts, Majoring in Public Relations and Journalism at Curtin University, attended student exchange program with Fudan University and holds Tier 1 General Advice certification for Kaplan Professional. Reach out via email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or via LinkedIn.

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