Media Release Archive

Top Japanese scientists and senior government officials arrive in New Zealand tomorrow (Thursday) to share Japanese and New Zealand disaster management expertise.

All early childhood education (ECE) services will soon have new guidance on how to plan for emergencies.

There are lessons for both the United Sates and New Zealand from the way Kiwi primary and intermediate school children are taught how to prepare for disasters.

New Zealand’s civil defence response team returned today from the Queensland floods.

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last night that New Zealand could provide a second civil defence Response Team to Queensland, planning has begun for the selection and formation of that team.

Members of the 15-strong New Zealand Civil Defence Response Team assisting with flood relief in Queensland have been stood down today for a well-earned rest.

Additional flooding in the Queensland town of Condamine has resulted in the New Zealand Civil Defence Response Team returning to help residents cope.

The Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, John Hamilton, said that, anecdotally, New Zealanders seem to be more aware and better prepared after a year of emergencies and disasters here and overseas.

The Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management and the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) today signed a memorandum of cooperation that includes 24/7 contact between the agencies.

New Zealand’s ability to respond to a warning of a potentially destructive tsunami will be tested by Exercise Tangaroa on Wednesday, 20 October 2010.