FRSITO Australasian Emergency Management Training Conference
Mai i Maketu ki Tongariro, ngā Pumanawa e waru o Te Arawa, tēnā koutou katoa
Translation: From Maketū to Tongariro, the eight beating hearts of Te Arawa. Te Arawa is a confederation of eight tribes descended from the eight children of Rangitihi. The sentence acknowledges the Te Arawa boundaries and the eight iwi of the confederation.
Just over 120 years ago one of New Zealand's major natural events occurred not far from here with the eruption of Mount Tarawera. This was significant, not just for Rotorua, but for all of New Zealand.
The Tarawera eruption is a good example of the type of unexpected event that can require the attendance of emergency services. Hopefully we will not have to face another such devastating event any time soon but we must always be prepared.
Events such as the Boxing Day Indian Ocean tsunami, the recent tsunami and earthquake in Samoa, the events of 9/11, the fire at Tamahere, the flooding in the lower North Island in 2004, and more recently in the upper North Island, have lifted the public's perception of the importance of emergency management and of the role of fire and other rescue services.
There will always be work to do building community resilience but people and particularly organisations do seem to be more aware than they used to of the possibility of threat and the need to be well-prepared before the event. They also probably have higher expectations of emergency services.
Co-ordination, planning, and the skilled use of new technologies are increasingly important in dealing with emergency events; be they large scale or highly localised.
The bigger the event, the more agencies will be involved and so the greater the need for common training standards and procedures.
At the forefront of every successful response, large or small, are well-trained staff. The quality of training and education underpins the success of the emergency management sector.
The Fire Service
As the Minister of Internal Affairs my particular interest in emergency management is in the role of fire services. This comes from my responsibility for the Fire Service Act 1975 and the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977.
My immediate focus at this time is on the consolidation of rural Fire Authorities. These organisations, often territorial authorities, have responsibility for fire control and management over much of rural New Zealand.
The current rural firefighting administration, however, is fragmented with 86 rural Fire Authorities. This can result in duplication in some areas and a lack of resources in others. It can also mean variable standards in the training of firefighters.
The National Rural Fire Authority has an initiative underway to encourage those authorities to voluntarily amalgamate into enlarged rural fire districts. I fully support this initiative.
These larger districts will have a greater capacity than previously and will cover a much wider area. I expect that as a result of amalgamations, among other things, we will see a more systematic approach taken to the training of rural firefighters.
Working together
The Government and communities place considerable importance on all of us working together. This is a necessity, not just from the perspective of managing emergencies, but also because we are a small, isolated country with limited resources and people to call on.
You'll be aware that the Fire Service and all rural fire authorities are key response agencies under the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002. In addition the Fire Service interacts with emergency management through Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). USAR operates as a joint initiative between the NZ Fire Service and the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management.
This interaction promotes the linkages between Fire and Civil Defence Emergency Management. Forums such as this also promote and build these linkages.
The Coordinated Incident Management System or CIMS is another example of linkages. This system enables members of the different emergency services to come together at an incident and be able to work together in a prearranged way. This forms an important part of the training of firefighters. CIMS is also the operating structure used in Emergency Operations Centres during civil defence emergencies.
I was pleased then, to see that FRSITO places a priority on building relationships, such as with the NZ Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority, the Ministry of Civil Defence, the Department of Conservation and the NZ Defence Force.
Overseas Events
Overseas experiences can be a valuable opportunity for learning for us in New Zealand. Again I welcome the presenters and delegates from overseas here today.
The exchange of experiences between countries is one of the most valuable learning methods. I am sure that the overseas presenters will not only leave us richer from their experiences, but hopefully they will also take back knowledge from New Zealand to apply back home.
The deployment of firefighters overseas at the Victoria and British Columbia bush fires this year are examples of training enabling emergency workers to assist in different environments. It of course also means New Zealand can provide practical assistance to our world neighbours in their time of need.
I know there has been some interest in whether New Zealand's USAR could play a greater role in helping with disasters - particularly in the Pacific region.
There is a big difference in scale between a domestic capacity and an internationally deployable resource.
However, the New Zealand Fire Service is doing some initial scoping work to see what it would take to upgrade to this capacity. I will be kept informed about this work.
Volunteers
My responsibility for the fire services gives me a perspective on the importance of volunteers. Many of the people involved in emergency management are volunteers. These are people who give their own time to serve their community.
Volunteers not only sacrifice their time when they attend an emergency event. Training can also involve their own and their employers' time.
I understand that comments have been made by some volunteer firefighters about the time it takes to train to achieve standards.
When preparing training that involves volunteers, I would urge you to consider the time volunteers have to find to carry out training; either their own or their employer's.
CDEM Competency Framework
With so many players and multiple roles and responsibilities in New Zealand, it is important to have a common understanding nationally of what competence and capability mean - this is the function of the Civil Defence Emergency Management - or CDEM as it is also called - Competency Framework.
I see one of the presentations to this conference will be on the development of the recently published CDEM Competency Framework.
Personnel capability and competence can only be achieved through acknowledgment that it is a shared responsibility across all organisations and individuals involved in CDEM. The framework is part of a broader strategy to recognise this.
Individual commitment will be required from the employing organisation, and commitment from education providers to ensure that their programmes are consistent with the framework.
Collaboration, relationship management and leadership are crucial for the development of this framework.
Conclusion
This is a significant time for the emergency management sector. We have more powerful tools to respond to emergencies than we have ever had, but we have also seen how easily we can be tested.
I congratulate FRSITO then for organising this conference. There is a wide selection of speakers and topics giving a diversity of expertise and experience to learn from.
I wish you well for a successful conference.
Thank you very much.