9. Question No. 9—Emergency ManagementHon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere) to the Minister for Emergency ManagementQuestion No. 9—Emergency Management9. Hon AUPITO WILLIAM SIO (Labour—Māngere) to the Minister for Emergency Management: What assistance has the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) coordinated to support local responses to Cyclone Gabrielle?Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister for Emergency Management): Under our emergency management system local leadership of responses is critical to ensuring everything we do is informed by the situation on the ground. In several parts of the North Island the situation remains incredibly difficult for the communities affected in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle. The National Emergency Management Agency's role is to ensure local responses are getting what they need. Under a state of national emergency—as was declared on 14 February and extended on Monday—NEMA has the ability to direct and prioritise nationwide resources. This includes bringing in extra support from the New Zealand Defence Force Police Fire and Emergency New Zealand and other agencies as required. This has involved the provision of critical supplies logistics and specialist skills to aid the local response and recovery. As many of us said in the House yesterday I want to thank all those who are working tirelessly to support the communities who were hit by Cyclone Gabrielle.Hon Aupito William Sio: What support has been coordinated by NEMA to local mayoral relief funds?Hon KIERAN McANULTY: The National Emergency Management Agency has been advising the Government on contributions to mayoral and regional relief funds. These funds are used to provide immediate short-term support in areas affected by emergencies. Once approved NEMA coordinates the distribution of Government contributions to these funds. So far in response to the cyclone the Government has contributed $3.7 million to mayoral and regional relief funds. These contributions reflect that local communities and councils understand where the immediate needs are and how to best help families community organisations and marae. They play a small but important part of the Government's total support package.Hon Aupito William Sio: What support has been provided by the National Crisis Management Centre?Hon KIERAN McANULTY: The National Crisis Management Centre which is housed under the Beehive has provided leadership of central government agencies and the local civil defence groups working on the ground. Its role is critical in managing the array of priority tasks that are required to support the emergency response. It is staffed by emergency management professionals who link in with representatives of the core agencies who are also represented. I am consistently impressed by the tireless work and dedication of those professionals and how they go about their tasks to protect New Zealanders in the wake of the cyclone.Hon Aupito William Sio: Can he tell us what other support does NEMA provide to local emergency responses?Hon KIERAN McANULTY: NEMA has surged its staff to impacted regions to support the response to the cyclone as well as the response to the Auckland floods several weeks earlier. They have helped with activities like planning logistics and getting information out to the public. NEMA is also providing expert capability to support local responses through fly-in emergency management assistance teams. They provide specialist emergency management capabilities to assist and support local incident management teams working in the affected areas. These teams are made up of specialist emergency managements with a mix of attributes skills and experience to go wherever they are required. In response to Cyclone Gabrielle they have been deployed to Napier Hastings Wairoa and Gisborne to help boost those local responses having been already deployed to Auckland earlier.