Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill

Public submissions have been called on the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill.

The closing date for submissions was Thursday, 18 August 2016

New Zealand’s fire service legislation has not fundamentally changed since the 1940s. The Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill is intended to enable:

• “fit-for-purpose” 21st century fire services that are flexible, modern, effective, and efficient; and • fire services that work well, are funded appropriately, and value the paid and volunteer workforce.

The bill repeals the 2 Acts governing fire service, the Fire Service Act 1975 and the Forest and Rural Fires Act 1977, to give effect to a single, unified fire services organisation for New Zealand.

The bill proposes to give the existing Crown entity, the New Zealand Fire Service Commission, expanded functions and a new name that reflects the wide range of services that fire fighters provide. The organisation will continue as Fire and Emergency Management New Zealand (FENZ). It will combine urban and rural fire services and will have local committees to ensure FENZ is responsive to the risks and the needs of the communities in which it serves.

The bill is available online from the `Related links´ panel.

• Submissions are publicly released and published to the Parliament website. Only your name or organisation's name is required on a submission. Please keep your contact details separate, as if they are included on the submission they will become publicly available when the submission is released.
• If you wish to include information of a private or personal nature in your submission you should discuss this with the clerk of the committee before submitting.
• If you wish to speak to your submission, please state this clearly.

Further guidance on making a submission can be found from the Making a Submission to a Parliamentary Select Committee link in the `Related documents´ panel.

If you have any questions about your submission or the submission process please contact the Committee Secretariat through the contact details provided on this page.