Wattie Watson: Professional Firefighters' Union National Secretary on the policy announcements to reset, review Fire and Emergency NZ
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What are the new fire and emergency policy proposals from Labour and National?
It looks like Fenns is getting an overhaul, so the Nets are promising a reset of fire and emergency. They would scrap the board, the agency would become directly accountable to the Minister. Wattie Watson is the firefighters, national secretary, union member of course is with us. Good morning.
Good morning to you and your
listeners. And uh so you had your petition yesterday. Labor says a review is coming, National says a reset's coming. Does between the two of them is is your problem solved potentially?
Well no.
Who is responsible for the current problems – the CEO, the board, or both?
Uh the problem of a full inquiry is is solved, but that probably won't happen 'til the new year. Uh both Labor Greens and the Nats uh made some policy announcements yesterday and uh welcomed. We look forward to working with whoever's in government. But we need action now. We've got a um management of funds that are running rampant. Uh there's no confidence in them, there's no trust that they're giving proper information and correct information and are pushing on with a restructure that will uh affect dozens of jobs and um that needs to be stopped. We need action now and we need proper management in there um to make sure that Fence gets back on track and all changes and all funding is properly directed to emergency response.
Who's the biggest problem, the CEO or the board?
Could the SFO investigation derail the proposed restructure of Fire and Emergency NZ?
Oh well I it's a combo a race to the bottom, isn't it? Uh I think they're both ex uh major problems, but the C E, but not just the C E, the deputy national commander, you know, the head of finance, the head of people, they've all got a massive part to play in this and and there is complete lack of trust in all of them.
See, what I can't understand, I talked to Brooke Van Velden about this the other day. I said, Who's the board? and she's appointed all of the board. So has she let you down? Because the board appeared useless. Because this guy who's permanently on holiday, what the hell's going on there?
No, uh, that that is we are flabbergasted that he has not been required to come back and be held to account.
Is moving Fire and Emergency NZ under the Emergency Management Minister a better structure?
The board uh I would I would liken it to s sleepwalking. They weren't asking the proper questions, they weren't doing due diligence, but even worse, they were just accepting whatever uh rubbish uh the CE and the national commander and their head of people put before them. Uh they uh they didn't question it and that is a massive problem. So yes, get rid of the board, but that doesn't the rot doesn't stop there.
No. What about the SFO stuff? Is that going to blow up in their face, potentially?
Well, we don't know what that's about really still, and I think it probably will.
What checks and balances are needed to ensure proper management and funding?
Th uh this is another reason why that restructure has to stop. because uh if it's about the way in which the levy was collected or spent or whatever, all of those You know, your strategic plans, your annual reports and all of the plans need to be revisited because they might be uh uh being achieved on false assumptions.
Yeah, but the national idea though that eventually if you get it, that it all reports directly to a minister. So in other words, it's a different structure, is that potentially more sensible than what you got currently? Or is the structure fine if you had decent decent people?
I think it's about the people. Um, you know, uh that what works under what minister totally depends on that minister. There's not really a lot of meat on the bones in that policy for us to be really clear about what that would look like and what the checks and balances would be.
How does Wattie Watson envision effective leadership and accountability going forward?
Uh there needs to be strong checks and balances and I think there is uh room to completely change the structure. But at the end of the day it's who's making those decisions that need to be held to account and we need people that are absolutely focused. on um on r using all the resources uh for the whole purpose of their organization, which is to respond and protect the community.
I think we'd all agree with that. I wish you well. Wattie Watson, who is the uh professional firefighters union national secretary. For more from the Mike Asking Breakfast, listen live to News Talks Ed B from six AM weekdays or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What are the new fire and emergency policy proposals from Labour and National?
0:00–0:24
2
Who is responsible for the current problems – the CEO, the board, or both?
0:24–1:16
3
Could the SFO investigation derail the proposed restructure of Fire and Emergency NZ?
1:16–1:54
4
Is moving Fire and Emergency NZ under the Emergency Management Minister a better structure?
1:54–2:26
5
What checks and balances are needed to ensure proper management and funding?
2:26–3:16
6
How does Wattie Watson envision effective leadership and accountability going forward?
3:16–3:51
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