National Headquarters
Fire and Emergency New Zealand
National Headquarters
Spark Central, Level 7
42-52 Willis Street
Wellington Central
Wellington 6011
Phone +64 4 496 3600
24 July 2026
Ref: 21640
Harwood Wilson
[FYI request #32305 email]
Tēnā koe Harwood
Thank you for your request of 1 May 2026 to Fire and Emergency New Zealand requesting
information relating to Type 4 appliances under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). In line
with our obligations to make and communicate our decision within the statutory timeframes of
the OIA, we wrote to you on 29 June to advise that your request had been granted and that the
information would be released to you without undue delay. Thank you for your patience while we
prepared the material for release. This letter is to accompany the release of this information, and
we copy and respond to each aspect of your request below.
1. All RFI supplier documents received from the request.
Please find attached, as
Appendix One to this response, copies of the Request for Information
(RFI) supplier documentation. As outlined in our decision letter, some information has been
withheld in full or in part under the following sections of the OIA:
• 9(2)(a), to protect the privacy of natural persons; and
• 9(2)(b)(ii), to protect information where the making available of the information would be
likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or
who is the subject of the information.
2. All subsequent FENZ reviews or internal documents regarding the received RFI's and / or
plans for further action following this, including if the national number of Type 4's will be
increased or decreased and where.
Please find attached, as
Appendix Two to this response, copies of our internal review document.
As outlined in our decision letter, some information has been withheld in full or in part under
section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the OIA, to protect information where the making available of the information
would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or
who is the subject of the information.
3. Any budget decisions or allocations regarding the Type 4 appliance procurement.
We can advise the 2025/26 capex budget allocation for Type 4 appliance replacement is $0.3
million.
4. Do FENZ expect to meet their own plans to replace the Type 4 appliances by FY 2028/29? If
so please provide clear documents to support this, including a schedule of replacement
trucks. If not please provide documents or clear reasons that justify the delay when major
funds have been spent on other non front line projects.
As noted on page three of the ten-year plan, we regularly review and revise this plan to reflect
ongoing changes in our operating environment and reflect progress we are making towards our
strategic priorities. The fleet procurement delivery timeframes in the ten-year plan have changed
to reflect the current operational environment.
Our Fleet Asset Management Plan (AMP) is based on returning 90 percent of our red fleet to
target life within the 10-year AMP period. Replacement sequencing has been planned through this
process to achieve this outcome, with delivery schedules updated annually to reflect current
procurement progress, contract status, and manufacturing lead times.
It is important to note the delivery programme in the AMP is based on an unconstrained budget
model which has subsequently been constrained to reflect capital budget availability based on
Levy revenue forecasts. Actual delivery timelines are subject to change due to variability in
elements such as supplier manufacturing and global shipping timelines outside of the
programme’s control. The Board approved a 3-year rolling capital approach to in-part account for
movement of capital milestone payments because of this timeline variability.
We have undertaken a search for the documents requested in question four and have not been
able to identify any in scope. For this reason, this aspect of your request is partially refused under
section 18(e) of the OIA, as the documents alleged to contain the information requested do not
exist or, despite reasonable efforts to locate them, cannot be found.
5. Who is ultimately accountable for delivering the fleet component of the 10-year plan
within its stated timeframe? If the plan is not met, what are the defined consequences for
those responsible?
The delivery of the fleet component of any of Fire and Emergency’s operational planning is the
responsibility of the Deputy Chief Executive Asset and Programme Delivery. There are no specific
defined consequences if the timeline is not achieved albeit operating costs associated with
maintaining an aging fleet are projected to increase over time. As noted above, the AMP is based
on an unconstrained budget and is subject to change.
6. Is there a formal accountability framework in place, or are delays simply absorbed through
external explanations or internal excuses?
All of Fire and Emergency’s personnel are accountable to the organisation. O
ur Code of Conduct
sets out the standards of conduct and behaviour we expect of all personnel and applies to
everyone including staff, volunteers, contractors and our Board. It supports us to make the right
decisions and sets out what will happen if we act outside those expectations.
7. Is there a clear, public demand based prioritisation model that explains why one area
progresses while another falls behind? i.e increased staff numbers since inception for
executive and NHQ plus increased pay while the ELT provide substandard public honestly
as documented in parliament, vs aged fleet, non crewed trucks and inadequate Firefighter
recruits.
There is not a single prioritisation model which covers everything; rather, there are a variety of
mechanisms covering different areas. High level direction is outlined in our Annual Reports,
Statement of Performance Expectations and Statement of Intent.
8. How many Type 4's are currently available as Aerial reliefs? and how many stations are
currently missing (or out of FULL service) their Type 4?
We currently have 2 Type 4 appliances as relief vehicles. Additionally, please find attached, as
Appendix Three to this response, Type 4 appliance statuses.
9.
Any written correspondence involving the ELT regarding Type 4's within the past 4 months
which is: Media Releases, Media speeches, Media advice or General statements to all FENZ
personal or the public.
Please find attached, as
Appendix Four to this response, media responses mentioning Type 4
aerials from 1 January 2026 to 1 May 2026, which is the only information identified as being in
scope of this question.
We trust that the information being provided is of assistance. If you require further information,
please email [FENZ request email]
Please note that because of the identified public interest in the information that you have
requested, we intend to publish this response (with your personal details removed) on our
website.
Nāku noa, nā
Aidan Saunders
Manager, Information Requests
