On behalf of Fire and Emergency New Zealand, we are pleased to present our 2022/23 Annual Report. With a dedicated team of over 14,700 across the motu, Fire and Emergency is in almost every community. We take our role in emergency response seriously, maintaining a constant state of readiness and fulfilling our purpose to protect and preserve lives, property and the environment.
This past year has been dominated by some of the most extreme weather Aotearoa has seen in decades, including the damaging Tasman flooding in August 2022, the devastating Auckland weather event in January 2023 and the destructive Cyclone Gabrielle in February 2023. We also responded to the Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington in May 2023, which resulted in five fatalities. We are incredibly proud of how each and every one of our teams responded and learnt for the future from these horrific events. Of course, these events cannot be mentioned without acknowledging the tragic loss of Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg from the Muriwai Volunteer Fire Brigade during Cyclone Gabrielle, which has been deeply felt right across the organisation. As a result of this tragedy, and the other significant events of the past year, we have commissioned reviews into our responses which will ensure we are learning from the events, prioritising our people’s safety while providing the best service to our communities.
This year has also shown the strength of our international community. During Cyclone Gabrielle our communities were supported by teams from the United States, Fiji and Australia. In turn, we sent personnel to support flooding in Australia, earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria, wildfires in Canada and cyclones in Vanuatu. This support has given our people invaluable experience and increased our preparedness for similar emergencies in Aotearoa whilst helping our colleagues around the world in their time of need. While the world changes around us, our ability to fulfil our role to protect and educate New Zealanders depends on us having reliable funding. While the levy increase introduced this year by the Government will help to cover the immediate pressures we face, as first responders – the need for our mahi is changing and thus cost to ensure we are safely prepared to look after our communities is also changing. Looking ahead, we need to ensure our funding reflects our growing functions and responsibilities so that we can continue to meet the needs of our stakeholders and communities, now and into the future. The Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission review of our progress in late 2022 emphasised the importance of continuing to build a safe, supportive and inclusive workplace. In response to the review, we established the Eke Taumata programme to drive long-term workplace culture change and monitor our progress against the review. While there is still work to be done, the first progress report shows that we are moving in the right direction and we are confident that a genuine difference will be felt by our people.
We are immensely proud of what Fire and Emergency has achieved in the face of what has been a challenging year. For this, we extend our gratitude to our people who are the beating heart of our organisation. Whether on the ground, or as part of the support crew, we commend everyone for their unwavering dedication and service to communities of Aotearoa.