Hudson BrettBRETT HUDSON (National): Thank you Madam Chair. I rise to take another call in this appropriation debate. I want to talk briefly on Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ). It's a very very important part of the work that the Governance and Administration Committee was doing in this particular piece of work but also as a member who sat on that committee for most of the previous term. I was present when the Minister of the time introduced the bill to talk about the bringing together of our urban and rural fire services and the planning around the transition for that.It was a key topic of conversation for the chair chief executive and team at this annual review hearing because it was highlighted and crystallised somewhat last year during that rather large rural fire in Christchurch. It was quite poignant because at the time the services knew they would be coming together but they weren't at that time and of course there was a very tragic loss of life in the fighting of that fire. While no one would suggest nor claim that the two services being separate was in any way directly linked to that tragic unfolding of events without question we were informed that one of the key items that they learnt from the review of that incident and the way it was addressed was that the communications between the emergency services remained a challenge for the effective and efficient fighting of that particular fire. It couldn't be changed at the time but at the time because our urban and rural fire services were formed under different command and control and weren't generally training and working together that did hinder the absolute effectiveness of the way that they could respond to that emergency.Of course that made it even more relevant and poignant to question them about how the transition has been proceeding. It is a staged transition—it is never going to be a Pantene overnight thing—but the first stages are complete. They have reported that the two bodies if you like have embraced the idea that they are coming together. One area that was dear to the heart of rural firefighters in particular was that they had amassed over the years some very large pools of assets that had been bequeathed or otherwise donated to urban fire units from trusts and families who had particular interests in the area.There was real concern ahead of the transition about how those assets would be treated and indeed if they would in a sense be lost to those communities. Well FENZ had assured us at the time—under a select committee interrogation of the bill—that that wouldn't happen and have further reassured us as the transition has been progressing that they are indeed responding with exactly that in mind. The rural asset pool remains untouched and is still in use and available so that the very generous donations those units have received over the years are still there to be used in those sorts of emergencies.But also now because of the coming together of the two command and control systems we're going to see a better integration of firefighters and emergency responders able to share the knowledge and experience they have and to more efficiently and effectively respond to emergencies whether they be in the heart of the urban area on the fringe or indeed in rural areas. And one of the reasons this becomes even more important is because the role of what was then the New Zealand Fire Service had evolved over the recent decades where instead of just responding to fire-type emergencies firefighters or personnel were spending far more of their efforts responding to incidents such as road crashes. So it's more a matter of importance that all fire service personnel are able to respond to the range of emergency incidents they might be called upon to. It's also important along with that of course that the levy that is paid by individuals by businesses and by households is adequately calculated to make sure that the service can respond to all of the different types of services it might provide.There is still some way to go there. They have just begun the consultation round to do that. It's important that they get that right. It will be important to the successful running of Fire and Emergency New Zealand into the future and I commend them on the work they've done.