Transcript
KEVIN MCEVOY: So this is about the defence force gaining some situational awareness before an event occurs. So something like a cyclone, for instance. If we can understand the capacity of the local infrastructure, the logistics support, the authorities in place, then we're in a much better place so we can tailor our response in conjunction with our partners from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
DON WISEMAN: Although I guess with a small country, a compact place like Niue, you could just about do that in a phone call, couldn't you?
KM: There's a lot of stuff that doesn't show up either in a phone call or on maps. So for instance we could look at something on Google Maps and everybody might say 'yes that's an area that's suitable for landing a helicopter,' [but] we might get there and find that it's got deep ruts in the field or that the air field's in a state of disrepair. So it's actually by going to the locals, getting the local knowledge, getting that support from the people who actually know the country the best, that we're in a much better position to be actually able to support them in their time of need.
DW: Now New Zealand had a very big involvement in the aftermath of Cyclone Winston in Fiji last year with hundreds of people involved for quite a long period of time and I think it's fair to say you've got more and more resources now available to deal with this sort of thing. So are you going to be looking at some of the bigger countries in the Pacific where this sort of disaster rehabilitation work is going to presumably be a lot more difficult?
KM: So there's a couple of things there. Firstly, unfortunately we do have a lot of experience in disaster relief and one of the key things that we aim to do is to actually share those learnings both with other government agencies and our international partners and host nations and governments. It's only through that sharing of information and collaboration that we can build up that trust and confidence so that we've got those established relationships in place before an event. And for us, it's about making sure that we've got the most effective and tailored response available for the emergency at hand.
DW: OK so you went to Niue. Any issues? Any things that surprised you?
KM: I think this is about making sure that we understand the local constraints and that's both in terms of the infrastructure and the logistics and then understand how they would respond in an emergency. We've established good relationships around the southwest Pacific, as you said, through the response to Fiji we understood that we worked with their National Disaster Management Office quite closely and we'll work with foreign affairs and the host nation to make sure that we're in a position to be able to support them in their time of need. Next week we've got a similar team going up to support some planning exercises with foreign affairs and with the government of Vanuatu. So it's about striking those relationships, maintaining the relationships and understanding that situational awareness before an event occurs.
