Emergency Management in New Zealand: Arrangements, Laws and Structures

Abstract

New Zealand suffers potential risks from natural hazards and disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, floodings, landslides and severe winds because the country is set on an active fault zone (lies across the boundary of Australian and Pacific tectonic plates) located in the South Pole. These are the reasons which have compelled New Zealand to provide an emergency
management system to reduce the risks from hazards, which has turned out to be extraodinarily effective to this day. The purpose of this paper is to examine lessons learned from the development of New Zealand’s emergency management system with respect to: the driving force behind the impetus for the emergency management system; the development of the organizational structure; relevant legislation; and future challenges.