FENZ failures prove governance oversight is missing

Responding to reports today that Minister Brooke van Velden is very dissatisfied with the way the Department of Internal Affairs discharged its governance role over Fire and Emergency New Zealand, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

"Since Fire and Emergency New Zealand was formed in 2017, we have written three reports exposing excessive costs and governance failures, and repeatedly submitted against levy hikes. In our last submission, we even warned that Fire and Emergency was relying on out-of-date information — exactly what the Minister has now discovered."

“Our last report was titled Up in Smoke: Is There a Failure of Governance by the Board of Fire and Emergency New Zealand and the Department of Internal Affairs? We have argued for a comprehensive review of Fire and Emergency since its creation in 2017. Perhaps Minister van Velden might now agree."

“This is yet another example of institutional slackness in the public sector. Taxpayers are left footing the bill for waste, weak oversight, and a lack of accountability."

“It is well past time for the Government to take control of the public service and start demanding performance.”