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Labour wants New Zealand to spend money on aid for Iraqi refugees, not soldiers to fight in their country.

The government's given the Defence Force the go-ahead for contingency training to begin ahead of a possible deployment to Iraq.

Labour's defence spokesman Phil Goff told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking he believes the money used on the Defence Force training could be better spent.

"I think if you really want to achieve something in tangible terms, putting the same sort of money into helping the region and the camps in the region as we're putting sending trainers to Iraq would achieve a whole lot more."

Goff is continuing to query why New Zealand personnel would be sent to the Middle East.

"The real question you've got to ask whenever you put people in harms way is whether there is an achievable objective, now I seriously doubt that there is an achievable objective for New Zealand in Iraq."

Cultural awareness is among contingency training New Zealand troops have begun in preparation for deployment to Iraq, in the fight against Islamic State.

Professor Robert Ayson of Victoria University's Centre for Strategic Studies says while all the soldiers won't be required to learn the language, cultural orientation is important.

"In most cultures there are things that you can do unintentionally to offend people and so it's important for them to know what might offend the people they're working with, what might generate better partnerships."

Islamic State may be growing more sophisticated, but a former chief of the New Zealand Defence Force says it will never match any enemies we have faced in the past.

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Iraq training resources better spent elsewhere?