NZ Defence Force was reassuring presence in Cyclone Gabrielle, but was frustrated at lack of clarity of roles, says Government Inquiry
The NZ Defence Force (NZDF) was a reassuring presence for communities in Cyclone Gabrielle, but was frustrated at lack of clarity of its roles, says a Government Inquiry.
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell today released the Government Inquiry into the Response to the North Island Severe Weather Event, which included Cyclone Gabrielle.
The Inquiry, led by former Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, was set up by the Government to review the response to North Island weather events last year. These included Cyclone Hale, the Auckland Anniversary heavy rainfall, and Cyclone Gabrielle.
The Inquiry found that the NZDF made a valuable contribution during Cyclone Gabrielle, carrying out a wide range of tasks including planning, and were also embedded in incident management teams. At the height of the emergency, the NZDF had more than 1,000 personnel involved in the response.
“We heard from communities that these personnel were a reassuring presence.”
"The NZDF is recognised as a support agency in the National CDEM Plan. There are provisions for it to provide appropriate support to government authorities during an emergency, while maintaining its other operational outputs and missions. The NZDF has highly skilled personnel across a broad range of areas including intelligence, logistics, planning, operations, and aviation and temporary forward airbase coordination," the report found.
“The NZDF expressed frustration in relation to the lack of clarity about its roles in the response. It noted to the Inquiry, ‘a lack of clarity in command and control in the ‘locally led and nationally supported emergency response framework’ created confusion, at times it was unclear who was the lead and responsible”.
"It also felt there was a mismatch between councils’ and communities’ expectations of the NZDF and what the NZDF had the capacity to provide.”
The NZDF also told the Inquiry it received short notice requests for support when Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) shifts were ending, as ECCs were not set up to be staffed for long duration operations. It noted this could have been mitigated ‘through a formalised handover process that, after a pre-determined period of time, staff could have seen staff deployed from around New Zealand to support the local response’.
The Inquiry says that it considers that the NZDF should have overall responsibility for establishing temporary forward airbases and for logistics and coordination of deliveries during a large emergency event, and this should be part of readiness planning.
“There also needs to be clear delineation of roles at a local, regional and national level, including clear coordination of movement of goods by flight and effected communication between the three levels to ensure it is clear who is the lead at any point.”
“In future, thee should also be consideration of the use of all available resources during an aviation response of scale, including the use of fixed-wing aircraft where they can be utilised effectively.”
The inquiry also included John Ombler (CNZM QSO), Rangimarie Hunia and Hawke’s Bay local Julie Greene as members.
The inquiry follows another independent review of the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group’s response to Cyclone Gabrielle, which was released last month. That review was launched in April last year by the Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Joint Committee. And the Independent Review Panel was headed by former Police Commissioner Mike Bush.
That review found that Cyclone Gabrielle highlighted the limitations and challenges inherent in New Zealand’s current emergency management model, particularly when it must address a severe and widespread disaster with multiple impacts and a lengthy recovery period, an independent review into the cyclone has found.
A third independent review commissioned by the Napier City Council found late last year that the Napier City Council was “hugely unprepared” for Cyclone Gabrielle in terms of Emergency Management capability.
The review, undertaken by Resilient Organisation Ltd., covers the Council’s internal response coordination, which includes crisis management and business continuity; and external response, which includes civil defence and emergency management.
Photo: NZDF
