9. TIM MACINDOE (National—Hamilton West) Link to this
to the Minister of Civil Defence
What lessons were learnt from Exercise Tangaroa?
Hon JOHN CARTER (Minister of Civil Defence) Link to this
I am proud of the civil defence structure that we have in this country. This exercise tested the National Tsunami Advisory and Warning Plan, which has been updated and enhanced through lessons learnt from the tsunami threats that arose in New Zealand in September and October 2009. Importantly, in the past year, the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management has enhanced the tsunami plan, making use of new scientific modelling from GNS Science that allows for distinct threat warnings to be issued for 43 coastal zones. This is a tool that the ministry previously did not have. Another element tested by the exercise was the ability of the ministry to continually provide updates to the media so that the public are well informed. Journalism students from Whitireia Polytechnic stood in for the media, and I wish to thank those students for their participation.
More than 100 agencies successfully worked together. Exercise participants included all 16 regional civil defence emergency management groups, most local authorities, central government departments, emergency services, scientific agencies, welfare organisations, utilities and transport sector agencies, and some media. Of course, it is still important that people understand that it is what individuals know about how to respond that will help them to get through. Indeed, it is unfortunate that the only group that does not seem to take civil defence seriously in this country is the Labour Opposition.
Hon Trevor Mallard Link to this
I raise a point of order, Mr Speaker. We have had a series of rulings from you about the nature of question time. This question was particularly interesting, as it came from Mr Macindoe. It appeared to be a straight question, and there was that nasty little flick at the end.
Mr SPEAKERThis is a serious matter, and it is unseemly that while we are talking about a serious matter that can affect the lives of so many people, as we have seen in Canterbury, there are so many inane interjections from the Opposition.
To be fair on this matter, I do not believe there were a lot of interjections while the Minister was answering, and I think the point of order raised by the Hon Trevor Mallard is a reasonable one. Especially where a supplementary question is asked by one of the Minister’s own colleagues and the Opposition is not interjecting significantly, to then add an attack on the Opposition is just not reasonable. There are plenty of opportunities to do that in this question time exchange—plenty of opportunities—but Ministers should choose when. A supplementary question from one of their own colleagues when there is no particular level of interjection from the Opposition is not a time to do that.