436 (2026). Ingrid Leary to the Minister of Internal Affairs

436 (2026). Ingrid Leary to the Minister of Internal Affairs: How does Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) ensure it complies with health and safety legislation, and the amount of ongoing firefighting training that firefighters receive through their time with FENZ, in line with global best practice?

Hon Brooke van Velden: I am advised Fire and Emergency meets its health and safety obligations by ensuring its personnel are trained and competent for their roles. Their training is delivered through: • Progression Training: structured programmes leading to operational qualifications, with all training recorded in the national learning system. • Specialist Training: courses such as pump operation, line rescue, and specialist wildfire training. • Operational Skills Maintenance: refresher training supported by a national traffic-light system that tracks firefighters’ currency across core and specialist skills. Fire and Emergency advise that its training frameworks and competency requirements are periodically reviewed and benchmarked against comparable international fire and emergency services, to ensure they remain fit for purpose and consistent with contemporary practice.