Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) is pushing back against renewed calls from the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) for an independent inquiry, pointing to existing oversight mechanisms and recent spending on appliances and infrastructure. Deputy National Commander Megan Stiffler says the organisation is already subject to multiple layers of scrutiny and remains focused on reaching a new collective agreement with the union.
“[FENZ] is focused on coming to a sustainable agreement with the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) for a new collective agreement. It’s disappointing its officials are focused on these distractions, mischaracterisations, and scaremongering,” Stiffler said. She noted that FENZ is overseen by Audit New Zealand, reports to the Minister of Internal Affairs, appears before select committees, is monitored by the Department of Internal Affairs, and engages with stakeholders. She added that the organisation’s strategic plan is publicly available and addresses many of the issues the union has raised.
On fleet and asset management, Stiffler said FENZ operates approximately 1,300 firefighting trucks across 620 stations nationwide. Since the 2017 merger of 40 local fire services, “317 new appliances have been put into operational service.” FENZ has recently received 20 additional trucks that are being prepared for operations and has a further 60 on order. “We’re not disputing the fact that the age of our fleet needs to be reduced, and that equipment does break down. However, overall, the fleet is well maintained, safe, certified, and legally compliant, with a strict schedule for regular maintenance and repairs,” Stiffler said.
The NZPFU is continuing to press for an independent review of FENZ, saying it should examine whether funding has been directed to frontline capacity and capability in line with the Fire and Emergency Act 2017. “There needs to be independent scrutiny of FENZ’s management of its funding to ascertain whether it has been appropriately focused on the necessary critical areas of resourcing to provide emergency response, protect the public and meet its obligations under the Fire and Emergency Act 2017,” the NZPFU said.
The union says FENZ’s revenue has more than doubled since its establishment in 2017, while firefighter numbers have been largely static. It claims there was an eight‑year period in which “not one new fire appliance had made it to career fire stations” and alleges that non‑operational support and management roles have more than doubled over the same period. “We believe there have been serious failures in the management and governance of FENZ with a lack of accountability for failed projects that have wasted tens of millions of dollars,” NZPFU national secretary Wattie Watson said, citing projects including a shelved payroll system, a uniform programme, and restructures. The union has launched a public petition seeking support “for our call for a public independent inquiry,” and says the initiative is aimed at preventing what it describes as a downgrading of fire and emergency services.
Staffing and control room resourcing remain key points of contention. The NZPFU says FENZ’s own information shows that firefighter and communications centre dispatcher numbers are insufficient to guarantee minimum staffing around the clock. It says an “agreement in principle” to increase numbers is being wound back, with FENZ characterising some firefighter increases in Auckland as “unauthorised.”
According to the union, there are three 111 emergency communications centres nationally, but FENZ “continues to understaff and overwork dispatchers,” and closures due to staffing shortages place additional pressure on remaining centres. The NZPFU also reports reductions in career recruit courses and constraints on training access for some volunteer brigades. The union has criticised FENZ’s decision to remove the word “future” from its Future Operating Capability project, saying this indicates a focus on current configuration despite “known changes in risks, including population growth, changes to types of industries, and the increased risk of extreme weather events.”
The inquiry push is unfolding alongside a protracted collective bargaining process. The FENZ-NZPFU collective agreement covering 2021-24 expired on June 30, 2024, after several rounds of Employment Relations Authority (ERA)‑facilitated talks. FENZ says its most recent offer would have delivered a 6.2% pay increase by November 2027, at a cost of $32.7 million through to July 2028. “We believe this represented a fair and sustainable offer and was fair when compared to other settlements that have been ratified across the public service,” Stiffler said. She added that the NZPFU “needs to consider their position in light of other settlements around the public sector and reflect a dose of reality in their pay claims.”
By FENZ’s estimate, the union’s proposal totals about $120 million over the same period, which it says equates, on an annualised basis, to about 10% of its total wage and salary bill and around 5% of total annual operating expenditure. “None of this takes away from the fact that our firefighters deserve recognition for the work they do. But we also have a responsibility to ensure the organisation remains sustainable so we can continue delivering the services our communities rely on,” Stiffler said. Watson said the union has told the ERA it will not participate in further facilitation unless FENZ tables a revised offer. The NZPFU says it last submitted a comprehensive proposal on January 26, 2026, and that FENZ has not lodged a new proposal since 2025.
The dispute is occurring within FENZ’s levy‑based funding model, under which about 95% of operating income is collected through statutory levies on home, contents, and motor insurance policies, with the remainder from government and other sources. FENZ reports a combined paid and volunteer workforce of about 14,900, a fleet of around 1,300 appliances, and close to 600 stations, responding to roughly 89,000 incidents annually. Any independent review of FENZ’s governance, funding, and resourcing settings – and any resulting changes to staffing, fleet investment, or remuneration – will be closely watched for potential impacts on levy trajectories, operating costs, and expectations of emergency response capacity.
