9022 (2026). Mike Davidson to the Minister of Internal Affairs

9022 (2026). Mike Davidson to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Has the reliance on volunteer firefighters to respond to Fire and Emergency New Zealand call outs increased or decreased as a result of ongoing strike action and the failure to come to an agreement?

Hon Brooke van Velden: I am advised that Fire and Emergency’s reliance on volunteer firefighters, particularly in metropolitan areas, has increased during periods of withdrawal of labour by New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union members. During these periods, when paid firefighters are not responding to incidents for one hour twice a week, Fire and Emergency deploys the closest available and appropriately trained and equipped brigade to respond. This can include increased use of volunteer brigades to maintain emergency response coverage. At the time the question was received, there had been 19 cumulative hours of full withdrawal of labour by paid firefighters.