Dunne PeterFIRE AND EMERGENCY NEW ZEALAND BILLFirst ReadingHon PETER DUNNE (Minister of Internal Affairs): I move That the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Government Administration Committee to consider the bill. This bill repeals and replaces two elderly pieces of legislation—the Fire Service Act 1975 and the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977—and instigates the biggest change to the fire services of New Zealand since the response to the disastrous Ballantyne's Fire in Christchurch nearly 70 years ago. This bill also reflects the views and desires of New Zealand's fire services their communities and wider stakeholders on the future of the nation's fire services. Last year's consultation process on what was needed to maintain and build our fire services received over 230 submissions and the message from all of those for change was loud and clear. So this bill is another step in the journey of change transition and futureproofing. It represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enable New Zealand to have a fit for purpose fire organisation that is flexible modern effective and efficient. It will enable fire services that work well fire services that are funded appropriately for what they do and it will value the rural and the urban and the paid and the volunteer workforce. This bill creates a unified fire organisation that brings together the urban and rural fire services spread throughout New Zealand. The new organisation will be known as Fire and Emergency New Zealand which reflects that the activities of the fire services of New Zealand have changed considerably in the last 70 years. Today's firefighters face a wide range of issues of fires from forests and other vegetation fires to fires in homes and commercial properties but although fighting fires remains at the core of the fire services their role has expanded far beyond this. Their functions now include responding to vehicle accidents urban search and rescue and dealing with hazardous substances incidents. Fire services also have a key role in assisting other agencies and organisations with a variety of other incidents including animal rescues maritime incidents and technical rescues. This bill reflects these expanded roles in the main and additional functions of Fire and Emergency New Zealand. It also formally recognises the flexibility and agility New Zealand's fire services have displayed for many years and will continue to show in the future. Firefighters are a passionate and committed group of people whether they are urban or rural paid or volunteer. They serve our communities to protect and preserve life property and the environment. Their communities in turn support and encourage them—something that is consistently identified as the key to the success of New Zealand's fire services. It is critical therefore that this strong community support is recognised and maintained. This bill enshrines this support and reflects it through the establishment of local committees. These local committees will be appointed by the board from representatives of the local area and will serve as the area's voice to Fire and Emergency New Zealand's board. They will advise on local risks and issues consider and promote the interests of the local area's volunteers and provide feedback and guidance to the board on local fire and emergency planning. Over 80 percent of the firefighters in New Zealand are volunteers. As a significant portion of the workforce volunteers will move into a more direct relationship with Fire and Emergency New Zealand although they will not become employees as such and there will still be an important and vital place for the United Fire Brigades' Association. This bill enables the provision of independent advocacy services and support for volunteers at no charge to them and that is the role that the United Fire Brigades' Association has played for more than a century now. Fire and Emergency New Zealand will develop a framework for supporting volunteers based on modern volunteer principles. Increased support for volunteers recognises their contribution while not detracting from the support given to the paid workforce. The bill clearly states that the existing paid and volunteer workforce will retain their entitlements when Fire and Emergency New Zealand is established so local brigades will retain their chief fire officers and their deputy chief fire officers. The way that the fire services of New Zealand are funded will change. Fire and Emergency New Zealand will be funded through the fire levy which is paid on insurance for contents property and motor vehicles. This will replace a variety of funding sources for rural fire services and allow the new organisation to be adequately funded for the work it will do. The bill will allow the fire levy to be broadened to include insurance on material damage not just fire damage to better reflect the range of functions Fire and Emergency New Zealand will perform and to make levy avoidance more difficult. The fire levy on motor vehicle insurance will be extended to include third-party insurance ensuring that more motor vehicle owners contribute. There will be public consultation at least every 3 years on the level of the fire levy making the funding of the fire services more transparent and requiring the funding of the new organisation to be aligned to its strategic and business planning processes. The bill will also include anti-avoidance provisions to ensure compliance with the new levy regime. The bill includes an updated offences and penalties regime that will provide appropriate penalties that punish and deter unwanted behaviour through a combination of significant fees or terms of imprisonment upon conviction. The bill removes cost recovery for rural fires and establishes an infringement notice scheme that will be designed to address low-level offending. These updated offences and penalties provisions will be supported by a comprehensive compliance and enforcement strategy that will help the new organisation and the public to encourage compliance and will make clear the penalties for unsafe behaviour. It is important that firefighters have the tools to appropriately respond when they identify behaviour that could have or has had serious consequences. The bill also clearly sets out the powers firefighters may exercise in the course of performing their functions. It includes modernised powers of entry and inspection to investigate the cause of fires and to support Fire and Emergency New Zealand's regulatory role in ensuring compliance with the bill. There are appropriate safeguards in place for the exercising of these powers including the production of identification the requirement for warrants in line with the Search and Surveillance Act and for marae taking into account the kawa of the marae as far as is practicable in the circumstances. The bill also includes new powers for dealing with hazardous substances incidents and powers to take samples or objects for testing or analysis. It includes specific provisions for evacuation schemes and measures to ensure there are adequate firefighting water supplies for emergencies and training including the development of a code of practice for firefighting water supplies. The bill sets out the fire control measures for when the starting of fires or activities likely to cause fires can be prohibited or restricted. These measures are necessary to protect life property and the environment; to describe fire seasons; and to establish the responsibilities and requirements on individuals and commercial operations to limit the risk of fires in open areas. Fire and Emergency New Zealand will continue the important relationships that the Fire Service has established with the Department of Conservation and the New Zealand Defence Force. It will also enter into operational service agreements with departments as is the current practice as well as the Ministry of Education and industry fire brigades. There will also be a new dispute resolution process so that the organisation can resolve disputes consistently and fairly. I will not go into these in great detail but there is a range of transition provisions forecast in the bill and there is also provision made for the transfer of assets so that from the time of the new organisation taking effect the assets currently available will be available to Fire and Emergency New Zealand to perform its functions. How they are transferred in the long term will be determined using a principle-based approach and in collaboration with the owner of the asset. So overall this bill supports the invaluable and varied work of the fire services of New Zealand and as of 1 July next year establishes Fire and Emergency New Zealand as the new overarching organisation. It is a combination of community volunteer and paid firefighters alike. This change has been a long time coming. The time is right. Our firefighters their communities and their stakeholders all agree that the change is needed and all agree that this is the right process. I want to acknowledge the contribution they all have made over the last year in bringing this proposal together. So with great pleasure and a small amount of pride I commend this bill to the House.