Hon Kieran McAnulty
Minister for Emergency Management
Aotearoa New Zealand continues to strengthen global emergency management capability with a new agreement between New Zealand and Australia, says Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty.
“The Government is committed to improving our global and national emergency management system, and the Memorandum of Cooperation signed is another positive step towards this.
“As our closest neighbour, New Zealand has had strong relationships with Australia’s emergency management agencies for many years.
“This new agreement reinforces the relationship between the New Zealand National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the newly established Australian National Emergency Management Agency.
“Australia and New Zealand face similar natural hazards, and so there’s a lot our countries can learn from each other. Each response gives us the opportunity to improve our systems, and the more information we have, the better prepared we can be.
“With the rate and scale of emergencies increasing globally, it’s important, now more than ever, that countries work together to build resilience and reduce risk.
The agreement was signed on the side-lines of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Brisbane this week.
“This conference gives us the chance to get together and figure out how we can help each other prepare for an event, and respond when it comes.
The signing of the Memorandum of Cooperation with the Australian National Emergency Management Agency follows the recent signing of another Memorandum of Cooperation between NEMA and the United States’ Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Today’s agreement is part of NEMA’s wider with a specific focus on the Pacific and our commitments under the United Nations and regional frameworks.