WELLINGTON New Zealand AP Bowing to public opposition New Zealand's government on Tuesday deferred buying a third Australian naval frigate but leased 28 U.S. fighter planes and authorized a major army equipment upgrade. The decision surprised some observers convinced Prime Minister Jenny Shipley's minority National Party government would push ahead with the frigate purchase despite opinion polls showing 75 percent of voters opposed the deal. Shipley announced the replacement of the 30-year old Skyhawk fleet with 28 F-16 fighter planes leased from the United States for 200 million New Zealand dollars U.S. dlrs 105 million. The government will upgrade the army with 500 more men and re-equip it with modern equipment at a cost of 500 million New Zealand dollars US dlrs 265 million she said. The Labor opposition cast immediate doubt on the F-16 fighter deal warning it might not honor any agreement between New Zealand and the United States to lease the planes if it wins government. A general election is due before November 1999 and Labor presently holds a 16 percent lead in opinion polls. The re-equipment decisions triggered the resignation of independent legislator Deborah Morris trimming the government's majority to 61-59 in the 120-seat Parliament. Shipley and Defense Minister Max Bradford said they had decided against the Australian frigate purchase for cost reasons. But Shipley said the government had also ``listened to New Zealand'' and taken into account public opinion against a further frigate purchase. Two were bought by a Labor government in the late 1980s. The decision not to buy a third frigate leaves a question mark over whether New Zealand will retain a three-frigate navy once its aging Leander-class frigate is decommissioned in about 2005. A decision will need to be made by 2002. Bradford said the government's top priority had been to re-equip the army. He had not been able to convince Cabinet colleagues that the government could afford to upgrade the army while also buying another frigate and leasing the F-16 fighters. APW19981201.1030.txt.body.html APW19981201.0028.txt.body.html