11. LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō) Link to this
to the Minister of Civil Defence
What steps is the Government taking to help people be better prepared for disasters?
Hon JOHN CARTER (Minister of Civil Defence) Link to this
Last week I launched an updated resource to help children, schools, and families be better prepared for disaster. Called What’s the Plan, Stan?, the resource helps children to understand and prepare for disasters. What’s the Plan, Stan? has been distributed to all primary and intermediate schools. As well as being a teaching resource, it is also designed to help schools develop their own emergency plans. A third purpose is to provide information that families can use to plan for emergencies at home and in their communities.
What’s the Plan, Stan? builds on the previous good work done by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management. All members will be aware of the Get Ready Get Thru education programme, which has been run since 2006 to raise New Zealand’s level of readiness. In addition, I have today released a new set of guidelines to assess damage to buildings in events such as earthquakes and explosions. [ Interruption] The Opposition might not want to take matters of civil defence seriously, but this Government does. The guidelines were developed by the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering, and they will help councils give homeowners an assurance and consistency after such events. For example, we are taking a leaf out of the sporting field and we have these signs, which we will ask local government bodies to use consistently. Where a house or a building is unsafe, it will get a red card stating that it is unsafe. Where it is under investigation or restricted use, we have a yellow card. Where it has been inspected and it is safe, we have a green card. It is something that we believe even the Opposition will be able to understand.
The state of preparedness in New Zealand is at a very high level. The structure that we have in New Zealand is one that we are very proud of. It was, I must say, developed under the previous administration, and it is a world leader. There are some strengths and weaknesses in it. We are developing the strengths, and we are working with local government across the country. There is work to be done in the communities, but this country is in a good state with regard to civil defence.