Hon Mark Mitchell
Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery

The Government has released its long-term vision to strengthen New Zealand’s disaster resilience and emergency management, Emergency Management and Recovery Minister Mark Mitchell announced today.

“It’s clear from the North Island Severe Weather Events (NISWE) Inquiry, that our emergency management system was not fit-for-purpose,” Mr Mitchell says.

“We’ve seen first-hand how events like Cyclone Gabrielle, Cyclone Hale and the Auckland Anniversary flooding have serious, long-lasting impacts on our communities.

“We must make changes to strengthen New Zealand’s emergency management system to be equipped for responding to future emergency events.

“I have considered the findings of the NISWE Inquiry and intend to implement all of the headline recommendations.

“Many of the findings were not new – we’ve heard them raised before in previous inquiries.”

Strengthening Disaster Resilience and Emergency Management sets out the Government’s overarching vision to strengthen New Zealand’s emergency management system over the next five years.

“To get there we need to shift into a state where the system is adaptive, simple, and builds backup capacity,” Mr Mitchell says.

The Government will implement a programme of changes in five broad areas:

• Give effect to the wholeofsociety approach to emergency management.
• Support and enable local government to deliver a consistent minimum standard of emergency management across New Zealand.
• Professionalise and build the capability and capacity of the emergency management workforce.
• Enable the different parts of the system to work better together.
• Drive a strategic focus on implementation and investment to ensure delivery.

“I am under no illusion this will be a quick fix. The emergency management system is inherently complex.

“While changes will take time, there are things we can all do now to strengthen our emergency management system.

“We all have a role of play to keep ourselves and our communities safe in an emergency.

“If you haven’t done already, make sure you have a plan. We don’t know when and where the next emergency event may happen, but we can all be better prepared.”

Minister Mitchell will provide more detail on the upcoming work programme, including a public facing roadmap early next year.

As part of the work programme, a new Emergency Management Bill will be introduced this term.

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