The Green Party will place safety and wellbeing at the heart of policies and procedures for emergency management. Aotearoa faces certain and increasing threats of many kinds, both natural and man-made. We will provide the financial, material and training resources that agencies and community organisations require to effectively plan for and respond to emergencies of all kinds, and enable critical infrastructure providers to improve resilience. We will ensure that local and Māori knowledge is effectively leveraged, the needs of the vulnerable are prioritised, and appropriate, equitable incentives to retreat from identified high risk areas are enacted.
Vision
Communities prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters, while caring for all living things.
Values and Principles
- Whakamaru, rangapū me tino rangatiratanga: The government has a responsibility to protect Māori interests, work in partnership with Māori, and respect Māori autonomy in disasters.
- Tiaki te taiao: Looking after the natural world is critical for minimising the risks and impacts of emergencies.
- Kia takatū te hapori: Emergency management takes a whole-of-society approach and is a collective endeavour that must bring communities together.
- Whakatau tikanga whaihua: Decisions in emergencies must be adaptable, recognise communities at risk, respect local knowledge, and be informed by up-to-date data.
- Whakamārietanga: Emergency management must minimise harm and protect wellbeing.
Strategic Priorities
The Green Party’s strategic goals include:
“All people will be empowered to shape the systems that affect them through community engagement enabled by good evidence, co-design, and adequate resourcing.”
Actions in this policy that will help achieve this include:
- Formalise the role of iwi and hapū Māori in emergency management, from risk reduction and adaptation through to recovery. (1.2)
- Adopt a flexible, outcome- and needs-oriented approach to emergency response that respects and preserves local ecosystems, tikanga, and communities. (2.2)
- Fund critical roles and equipment for all services involved in emergency responses. (3.1)
- Prioritise collaborative plans and strategies for targeted support towards communities at risk, including isolated people or communities, people at risk, and marginalised groups. (4.1)
- Resource remote communities to establish local alternatives to centralised critical systems. (5.2)
Connected Policies
Emergency preparedness requires resilience and planning in life-supporting and response-supporting systems, including Food, Energy, Transport, Health, Housing, Workforce, and Waste and Hazardous Substances. Emergency management must extend beyond human communities to consider Biodiversity and Environmental Regeneration and Animal Welfare, including Freshwater and Marine species, and Forestry and Agriculture. Emergency response may require support from the New Zealand Defence Force, whether here or overseas (see also our Global Affairs Policy).
