Fire and Emergency New Zealand faced sharp criticism as Minister Brooke van Velden declared no confidence in its chief executive and revealed the agency referred to the Serious Fraud Office over levy collection breaches.
A parliamentary select committee report has exposed deep-seated governance failures inside Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), drawing sharp reprimands from government ministers and emergency service unions alike. The fallout centers on internal financial operations, transparency failures, and leadership accountability within the crown entity.
Levy Collection Breaches and the Serious Fraud Office Referral
The crisis escalated when Minister for FENZ Brooke van Velden stated that the organisation was breaching their own law in regards to levy collections
. While specific details regarding the mechanics of the breach remain limited due to the ongoing situation, the financial oversight failure prompted decisive action from the board.
Based on suggestions from the board, FENZ had been referred to the Serious Fraud Office. Van Velden expressed profound frustration over learning that the agency spent nearly half a million dollars looking into the issue without her prior knowledge, calling the expenditure completely unacceptable and pointing to a lack of accountability across the public service.
Ministerial Breakdown of Trust and Loss of Confidence in CEO Kerry Gregory
The revelations directly triggered a crisis of confidence between the government and executive leadership. Van Velden announced she no longer had confidence in the chief executive of the organisation, Kerry Gregory, following a “serious breach” of the no surprises clause.
How can I possibly do that if I'm being actively withheld information?
Brooke van Velden, Minister for FENZ, via RNZ
Van Velden said she became aware of the situation about two weeks ago, and only because the board chair said she needed to know. According to the minister, Gregory appeared not to be aware of the issue for quite some time, raising concerns in terms of internal culture. Once he was aware, he decided not to let the minister responsible for FENZ know. Van Velden said that was the thing that is despicable because there’s constantly been issues within Fire and Emergency, describing the situation as active withholding of information and a clear breach of trust.
Union Condemnation and Parliamentary Scrutiny on Dilapidated Fleets
The NZ Professional Fire Fighters union said a scathing report reinforces what its been saying for years. National Vice-President Martin Campbell stated that the union has been saying for years that FENZ has allowed the fleet get into a dilapidated state. Campbell added that the misrepresentation of senior FENZ leadership including the chief executive and deputy national commander to the parliamentary select committee didn’t go unnoticed by that select committee and FENZ has been called out for intentionally deceiving the committee members.
The governance and administration committee is recommending the government looks at changing the organisation’s board and whether it should be allowed to buy its own fire trucks. Campbell said he hoped to see some changes at the board and senior leadership level, noting that their lack of support extends to the whole senior leadership team being led by that chief executive that has failed our people and failed New Zealanders for quite some time now.
Cultural Issues, Crown Entity Status, and Next Steps
Beyond financial and procurement troubles, van Velden pointed out that there were clearly cultural issues at play within the organisation. Previous operational and administrative issues included levy modelling, payroll, fleet procurement, and making savings in the back office, though she noted at least she knew about those previous issues so that she could hold them accountable to the plans and processes to make them better going forward.
It is now for the board to make sure that they can restore her confidence.