Brooke van Velden directs Internal Affairs to explore new FENZ funding model

Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone

The Internal Affairs Minister has asked officials to explore whether there are better ways to fund Fire and Emergency.

Fire and Emergency (FENZ) is mainly funded by a levy taken from insurance premiums, which collected nearly $800 million in 2024/25.

Brooke van Velden questioned whether that was the right avenue, given the agency's responsibilities widened almost a decade ago to include things like medical emergencies and weather disasters.

"So for me it's a question of fairness ... is it appropriate that we're still asking people who are insuring against their personal property for fire damage to pay for non-fire related incidents, as well as pay for people who haven't insured against fire?" she said.

"Is it fair to ask for people who are paying for insurance, to pay for essentially a public good?"

Van Velden said data in the year to 31 March showed about a third of calls FENZ responded to were not fire-related.

She told Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) staff to have an open mind in their consultation process, but suggested there were some obvious options for other models.

They included direct Crown funding, or collecting the money via rates bills which van Velden believed would mean more people paying a much lower fee.

DIA would consult with a range of organisations like the Insurance Council, FENZ and councils.

The consultation would finish before the end of July and DIA's report would inform any future work on regulatory or legislative settings for the fire service, van Velden said.

It would not affect the new levy rates, which had already been set for the next three years starting on 1 July, she said.

Earlier in June the Insurance Council called for the FENZ levy to be scrapped, and replaced with one that pays for natural disaster resilience projects.

Its chief executive Kris Faafoi said FENZ should be funded by the government, not insurance premiums.

It says the government should instead fund FENZ directly, and use a simpler version of the $800 million levy to pay for resilience projects like flood protection.

IAG has added its voice to a growing chorus of organisations calling for leadership from the government.

Firefighters are battling bosses under pressure to cut costs, but FENZ's failures have seen the organisation face Parliamentary scrutiny.

The truck went to a fire in Petone just after midnight, but its pump failed, the NZPFU said in a notice to Fire and Emergency.

At least 140 people are slated to lose their jobs, and unions say the proposal wi