NZDF not ready for disaster due to Covid-19 MIQ commitments

If a major disaster happened in New Zealand today, the Defence Force's ability to respond would be significantly compromised, mainly due to its security role at managed isolation hotels. Top officials are warning the government that with more than a thousand troops at any one time staffing MIQ, it wouldn't be able to mobilise at the same scale and speed as in the past. Details about the severe impact on training, the ready availability of personel and what that means for any large scale disaster response are contained in briefings obtained by RNZ under the Official Information Act. RNZ's political editor Jane Patterson reports.