Award recipients

21 Years

Sandra Bee

Sandra has been involved in emergency management in Hawke’s Bay for over 20 years as an influential Emergency Management Advisor for the Hawke’s Bay District Health Board. During this time, she has been an active contributor to the Hawke’s Bay CDEM Group and is a long term member of the Hawke’s Bay Emergency Services Coordinating Committee. She has been a strong advocate for pandemic planning prior to and during COVID-19 and continues to be a leading representative of emergency management in Hawke’s Bay region.

Shane Briggs

Shane has responded to numerous local incidents and some of New Zealand’s largest emergencies. He has deployed twice to Australia flooding, including leading the NZ delegation of response volunteers. Shane was an original member of the NZ Response Team Steering Committee. He has received the Canterbury Earthquake Citation and the Queensland Flood and Cyclone Citation. In 2012, he received a Kiwibank Local Hero Award for expanding emergency response capabilities in the Manawatu. Shane has worked at local and regional levels as a Group Controller and manager of the Taranaki CDEM Group.  He has also applied his emergency management knowledge to business continuity planning for government departments.

Lynda Burdekin

Lynda has been involved in Civil Defence in Canterbury for over twenty years. She has been involved in numerous exercises and emergencies with the Christchurch City Council CDEM volunteer team. This included the Canterbury earthquakes, where like many in Christchurch she found herself on both sides of the disaster, as a victim and working in the Civil Defence team at the same time.  She was also involved in the Port Hills fire, tsunami evacuations, flooding events, and the Kaikoura earthquake, flying in by helicopter to assist the Kaikoura locals.

Eric Newman

After an extensive career with the New Zealand Police, Eric left the force in 1999.  Very soon after that he was contracted by the joint Emergency Operations Centre of the Western Bay of Plenty District and Tauranga City Councils, known as the WEOC to carry out a risk management exercise for the upcoming Y2K issue. In January 2000 he became Lead Controller for the WEOC. They tell me Eric is known for his calm and effective, positive leadership style.

Geoff Olds

Geoff has more than twenty years with the Christchurch City Council’s CDEM volunteer team. Over this time Geoff has been involved in lots of training and exercises, including the Port Hills Fire, Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes. Geoff is known for always  demonstrating camaraderie, solidarity, team spirit, trust, loyalty and compassion for others - often in the face of stress, discomfort and personal cost.

Gregory Phillips

Greg joined the Capital & Coast DHB Emergency Management Service in May 1997 where for most of his tenure he has been the service leader. His duties have focused on coordinating the development of the DHB’s emergency plans, providing a programme of staff training and emergency exercises, responding to emergencies on hospital sites and the wider health sector including the Canterbury earthquakes in 2011 and the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. He has represented the DHB on the Coordinating Executive Group and Emergency Services Coordinating Committee. Before joining Capital & Coast DHB, Greg spent 20 years serving with ambulance services in Wellington, Taranaki, and the Manawatu-Whanganui regions, holding the ranks of Superintendent and Chief Ambulance Officer.

Elizabeth Smith

Elizabeth’s service to emergency management began in 2000 as a volunteer for the Palmerston North Rescue Emergency Support Team. Since then she has made significant contributions to emergency management in the Manawatu, Tarakanaki and now in Wellington where she is an Emergency Management Advisor at WREMO. Elizabeth also plays as a key role coordinating the Wellington region’s New Zealand Response Team and contributing to the National NZRT Project Steering Group.

Graeme Tilsley

Graeme joined the North Shore Initial Response Unit in 1998 and has remained an active member ever since. He has provided volunteer response services to the Auckland and the New Zealand community for the last 20 years.  He has been deployed across the country for multiple emergency responses. We’re told Graeme diligently attends team training every week, along with assisting with weekend courses and public education days throughout the year.

Kane Turner

Kane joined the North Shore emergency management whānau in 1995 when the group operated as the North Shore Initial Response Unit and has previously held the position of Deputy Team Leader with Response Team 5.  He has been deployed to provide response services around the country for incidents such as the Christchurch Earthquakes, Edgecumbe Fires, and as part of the national COVID-19 Response.

Tim Chiswell

Tim has an extensive background in humanitarian response in New Zealand and overseas. Between 1998 and 2008 he worked for Caritas International helping them fulfil their domestic and regional preparedness and disaster response roles. He has spent the last 13 years working on health emergency management within St John at regional and national level. This has included the development of enhanced mass casualty response capability, as well as planning and operational roles in a range of responses. In 2020 Tim was appointed to the Emergency Management Assistance Team Cadre.

30 Years

Peter Brownbridge

Peter has been a key support to Rotorua Lakes Council’s civil defence team for many years, since 1993 Pete has performed most roles within council’s Incident Management Team. He has undertaken the roles of Emergency Response Manager, Logistics Manager, Planning and Intel manager, Operations and Welfare. Pete was Incident Manager for the NZ-15 response team during the Christchurch earthquakes coordinating deployment, and as primary liaison for Council.  Pete continues to use his technical communications expertise to support council with emergency VHF radio communication systems.

Bryan Craig

Bryan has volunteered since 1988 and has been deployed to multiple large-scale events across New Zealand, including the most recent COVID-19 Welfare Response activity. He has also been present at many of the localised incidents such as major weather events. As well as providing volunteer response services to the Auckland and wider New Zealand community, Bryan is extremely active at all community education activations and takes a lead during the weekly Radio Transmitter training sessions. Bryan is a leader amongst his peers and is always willing to share his knowledge, skills and experience with everyone he works with.

Graham Ferguson

Graham received both a 20-year and a 30-year award at the Emergency Management Awards Dinner. Graham has held public health and health emergency management roles in Auckland Regional Public Health Service and St John. He has led multiple projects and responses that have enhanced the health sector capacity to respond to CDEM emergencies.

Duane Gorst

Duane has been a stalwart member of Response Team 5 in Auckland. He initially began as a volunteer with the North Shore Initial Response Unit in March 1989 and has now provided volunteer response services to the Auckland and the New Zealand community for the last 30 years. Duane has been involved in local and national deployments. He frequently attends team training, weekend courses and public education days. Duane has held various positions throughout his time with Civil Defence including as Team Leader between 2011 and 2017. He’s a valued member of the Response Team and is respected by all of those that work alongside him.

Lesley Harrison

Lesley started with Civil Defence in 1991, recruited from the Bay View woman's institute and serving much of her career as the Bay View Centre manager. Highlights of her service include being the first to arrive and set up the CDC at Napier Intermediate for the Napier Siege event in 2009. Lesley continues to contribute to the 1931 Earthquake survivor’s afternoon tea; weekly radio checks, and proactively seeks opportunities to further her education; being only a few papers away from getting her degree in emergency management!

Peter Ide

Peter started Civil Defence Volunteering for Napier City Council in 1984 and has spent many years diligently attending trainings and exercises, including mass casualty exercises at the airport, having to navigate his way out of a pitch black firebox room. Peter was front and center during flooding and slips on the Napier Hill in 2011 and also worked in many other events, including the Napier Seige, Napier Taupo Highway snow closure of 2015, and the Napier floods last year. A regular, experienced, calming, and positive presence at training evenings, the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence Group is incredibly grateful to have Peter as part of the team.

Phillip Martelli

Phillip’s involvement in emergency management stretches back to 1991 during which time he has been involved in a number of events where the Western Bay of Plenty Emergency Operations Centre was activated. Phillip has taken up the role of EOC Manager and Alternate Controller with a steady ease which has lead the team to a positive outcome through numerous events.  He has mentored and trained staff along the way to grow in their EOC roles and inspires staff with his confidence, strong leadership abilities and his vast expert knowledge in the districts diverse communities.

Peter McCarthy

Peter has made an enormous contribution to civil defence emergency management and the wellbeing of the communities he has served for 30+ years. He first became involved with civil defence emergency management in 1989 and served during significant emergency events including the Christchurch 2011 earthquake and the 2017 Whakatane severe weather event/ Edgecumbe flood. Peter has participated in multiple civil defence exercises throughout the North Island, was a key member during the accreditation process for NZRT-16, continues to serve as Team/ Deputy Team Leader for NZRT-16, has supported numerous NZ Police Search and Rescue operations, and provided medical coverage at multiple public events.

Michael Nixon

Michael is receiving both a 20 year and a 30-year award this evening. Michael started in Heathcote Valley School whereas chairman of the school board put his hand up to be warden when nobody else wanted to do it. He has been volunteering in Canterbury since 1989 as part of the Christchurch City Council’s Linwood Team. He has been involved in many exercise and emergencies including the Canterbury and Kaikoura earthquakes, Port Hills fire and many floods’ events.

Christine Tatterson

Christine joined the Christchurch City Council light rescue team in 1988 and has undertaken many exercises and trainings including in confined space under the civic offices in Tuam Street, light rescue at the QEII complex and abseiling from the tops of many buildings in Christchurch that are no longer in existence. Christine achieved her assessor qualification and has been involved in Emergency Operations Centre staff training.  She ran the three rescue volunteer teams for Christchurch City Council in the 2000s and stayed on as a volunteer until retiring in October 2019.

Melvern Wainwright

Melvern has undertaken active voluntary service as part of New Zealand Response Team 16 – Tauranga. He has made an enormous contribution to emergency management and the wellbeing of the communities he has served for more than 30 years.  He has participated in significant emergencies including the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 2017 Whakatane sever weather event/ Edgecumbe flood, alongside participation in multiple civil defence exercises throughout the North Island. He has supported numerous NZ Police Search and Rescue operations and provided medical coverage at several public events.

Lois Watson

Lois started with Civil Defence in 1987 at which time she was the only non-military volunteer in the comms team. Holding her own in a male dominated environment, Lois went on to become a senior and respected member of the Hawke's Bay comms community not only within Civil Defence, but also across the amateur radio clubs. Lois has worked as the comms manager in several events, most notably the Napier Siege, where she managed the comms room. Lois was also the first person at the EOC at 2am for a flooding event causing a large slip-on Napier Hill, as well as ensuring the team was prepared during a significant gas leak right next to the region's hospital.

Craig Winters

Craig is in active voluntary service as part of New Zealand Response Team 16 – Tauranga. He has made an enormous contribution to civil defence emergency management and the wellbeing of the communities he has served for 30+ years. He served operationally during the Christchurch 2011 earthquake response and has participated in multiple civil defence exercises throughout the North Island. Craig was a key member during the accreditation process for NZRT-16, supported numerous NZ Police Search and Rescue operations, and has provided medical coverage at multiple public events.

Christine Wisnewski

Christine has been a part of CDEM since first starting at Manawatu District Council. She has always been available for training and regularly assists in the upkeep of CDEM. She was active during the 2004 floods doing property inspections for building assessments and assisting on the phones.  In the 2015 Manawatu floods, and 2017 Manawatu district snow event she assisted in the Logistics function. Chris also completes weekly checks of the district VHF emergency radio network to ensure it is working correctly. 

40 years

Paul Hawke

Paul has made an invaluable contribution to Emergency Management not only in his home area of Hastings/Havelock North, but across New Zealand.  He has attended several significant disasters including Thames-Coromandel floods (1981), Te Aroha floods (1985), BoP Earthquake (1987), Cyclone Bola (1988), Ruapehu Eruptions (1995, 1996) and the Lower North Island Floods (2004). Paul supported the former Ministry of Civil Defence in several areas over his service time including the development of the Civil Defence School and the courses that were designed and delivered there.  This included the development of the Rescue Manual and the training of rescue teams, the predecessor of today’s USAR capability.  He also assisted with the creation of plans and guidelines for the sector, and the design work for Emergency Operations Centres and systems, prior to the creation of the CIMS framework.

Janine Hawthorn

Janine has been involved in CDEM within the Manawatu-Whanganui region for over forty years. In her first event Janine assisted with the gas leak in Marton in 1980, involving the evacuation of 1500 people, acting as a runner as her father was the Civil Defence Coordinator for the area. She continued to assist and completed training while at Rangitikei County Council. Janine has been in active CDEM service at Manawatu District Council since 1999. Over that time, she has assisted in the 2004 Manawatu floods in Operations, further Manawatu flooding in 2006, in 2011 Christchurch as Welfare Manager assisting with the missing persons line and in the 2015 Manawatu floods as Welfare Manager at both the Manawatu District and Whanganui District Councils. She has assisted at a national level in establishing the needs assessment and registration national working party. She always goes well above and beyond to assist with anything and is a great volunteer.

50 Years

Bernard (Bernie) Haar

Bernie started at the Gore Borough Council as a cadet within the Infrastructure/Asset team in 1971 where there was an expectation that CDEM would be a key part of his role. Initially he was trained to work within the Operations function of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), this involved stop-bank patrols when flooding was expected and feeding this information back into the EOC. As Bernie’s knowledge and skills increased he started to oversee sandbagging and strengthening stress points at times of high flows along the river protection systems. Bernie was the night shift Controller for the flooding emergency in 1978 that impacted the whole of Southland and resulted in more than 1800 people being evacuated within the Gore Borough. This saw Bernie assuming a more active and leading role within the EOC and CDEM throughout the rest of his career. In 2002 Bernie shifted to the Mackenzie District Council, while the district has had no formally declared activations, Bernie was endorsed as Controller from the beginning of his tenure. The district has had many minor events, of note was the ‘snow’ of 2006 resulting in the coordination of many agencies across the larger Canterbury area. Bernie has provided a steady hand to the Council, participating in training, exercises and mentoring new staff. Despite his impending retirement Bernie has no desire to step away from CDEM, intending to retain his involvement in a volunteer capacity.

40 Years

Gary Allis, Western Bay of Plenty CDEM Group

Paul Solitt, Tairawhiti CDEM Group

30 years

John Clarke, Tairawhiti CDEM Group  (also received 20 years award)

Christopher Coll, Civil Defence Buller (also received 10 and 20 years awards)

Hal Hovell, Tairawhiti CDEM Group

Ian Hunter, Tairawhiti CDEM Group 

20 years

Barbara Dempsey, Whakatāne District Council

Keith Evans, MCDEM

Phillip Martelli, Western Bay of Plenty CDEM Group

Janelle Mackie, Canterbury CDEM Group

Pop Milner, Tairawhiti CDEM Group 

James Thompson, Canterbury CDEM Group

20 Years

Ron White, including the acceptance of his wife’s Helen White’s, posthumous award for 10 Years

Bryan Craig

Brian Donaldson

Peter Donovan

Duane Gorst

Brian Heath

Peter Hector

Iain Palmer

30 Years

Shane Bayley

Roger Broadhurst

David Fox

Margaret Rankine

Allan Wilson

Bay of Plenty: December 2013 New Zealand Response Team 17

Brenda Davis – 16 years

Tony Gillard – 21 years

Alan Keeper – 28 years

Canterbury: 13 August 2014, University of Canterbury Rescue Team

Graeme Bull – 37 years

Heather Thomas – 36 years*

Mark Andrews – 26 years*

Graham Furniss – 26 years

Mark Warren – 26 years

David van Leeuwen – 14 years

* Includes service with other CDEM organisations

Manukau City: 12 October 2009

Jack Amoroa – 11 years

Richard Baker – 12 years

John Baylis – 12 years

Wendy Bercich – 14 years

Charlene Bloor – 16 years

Philip Boardman – 20 years

Margaret Brady – 16 years

Robyn Brooks – 15 years

Tricia Burns – 24 years

Fay Crook – 22 years

Judy Fowler QSM – 20 years

David Gordon – 12 years

Marilyn Gordon – 12 years

Robyn Greer – 13 years

Tony Hopman – 13 years 

Allan Horner – 15 years

Pat Horner – 24 years

Mary James – 16 years

Jack Jarvis – 11 years

Vera Jarvis – 11 years

Lois Kemp – 12 years

Ron Kemp – 12 years

Gordon Kennedy – 15 years

Solf Maifea – 13 years

Jean Marona – 11 years

Charlotte Marsh – 12 years

Yvonne Matson QSM – 14 years

Janny Meinders – 10 years

Joop Meinders – 10 years

Ula Moka – 20 years

Bernard Moore – 23 years

Lis Morch – 16 years

Shirley Newby – 10 years

Dulcie Peploe – 15 years

Mary Pratt – 17 years

Maureen Richards – 26 years

Stephen Russ – 12 years

Suzanne Russ – 11 years

Roshni Sidhwa – 11 years

Anne Stone – 24 years

Pune Tekaa – 17 years

Joyce Witten – 16 years

Chun-Lien Yeh – 13 years

Napier City: 7 December 2009

Taranaki:14 December 2009

Wellington: 7 December 2011

The Ministerial Award For Outstanding Contributions to Emergency Management in New Zealand

This award was presented to Sarah Stuart-Black. Sarah is affectionately known, by many, as Norm.  Sarah has been involved in the response to, and recovery from, almost every emergency and event in New Zealand since 2003, including significant events such as the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, 2016 Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake, 2017 Edgecumbe flooding, 2019 Christchurch Mosque Shooting, 2019 Whakaari White Island eruption, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

She has served as Executive Director of the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management and as Deputy Chief Executive in the new National Emergency Management Agency where she also held the statutory role of Director Civil Defence Emergency Management.

Sarah has also worked overseas, in England, Ethiopia, Niue and the Solomon Islands. She was a member of the United Nations Disaster Assessment & Coordination Team for nine years and has represented New Zealand at a variety of international forums, bilateral, regional and global meetings, exercises and forums.  All experience which will serve her well in her current role as Secretary General of New Zealand Red Cross.

HIGHLY COMMENDED: Hugh Vercoe

Hugh was recognised for his outstanding leadership and governance, for over 22 years, within Waikato Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. Hugh has been, and continues to be, a champion for change and a champion for Emergency Management, within a complex political environment.

The Award for Innovation

This award recognises initiatives and strategies which support or create a culture of innovation in the sector, particularly the application of creativity across any aspect of the 4Rs of risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery. This can include the development of a new product, service, or practice not previously seen in emergency management or recognise where an existing approach has been used in a novel or unique way.

This award was won by Eagle Technology Group Ltd.

Eagle Technology have been instrumental in the development and execution of the Geospatial Response Intelligence Platform (GRIP) for Auckland Emergency Management. The GRIP tools provide real time situational awareness through a collection of web-based applications that allows users to view, create, add external data, receive information from the field and disseminate it within specifically designed summary dashboards. Eagle Technology, in collaboration with Auckland Council and Auckland Emergency Management, developed an integrated suite of tools which have significantly enhanced the existing capability of its staff to collect incoming intelligence for communication, reporting, and decision making during a training exercise or response. The collaborative approach taken by Eagle Technology has fostered communication and raised capability to deliver innovative and unique geospatial solutions.

The selection panel also gave special recognition to Eagle Technology’s Ed Cook. Ed has become something of a legend throughout New Zealand and overseas for his geospatial work. His online map for the Pigeon Valley Fire became the first multi-agency public information source and his dashboards tracking early COVID-19 cases were relied upon by CDEM groups hungry for information.

The Award for Manaakitanga

This award is for demonstrating respect and hospitality to others in a way that upholds their mana and enhances our own, across any aspect of the 4Rs. It recognises exceptional Manaakitanga in the emergency management environment

This award was won by Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Awa.

The Whakaari White Island eruption was a tragedy that impacted many people. It was the manaakitanga displayed by Ngāti Awa that gave the grief, anger and despair people were feeling a voice, and enabled the victims, their whanau and first responders to face the horror of the event and find solace.

Ngāti Awa showed people how to draw strength from one another. They provided wise counsel and a safe place for people to come together, breathe out, reflect and process how they felt. The iwi-led karakia each day at Te Mānuka Tūtahi Marae was of great comfort to everyone involved and they felt spiritually supported and understood in a way that both surprised and comforted them. The role of Ngāti Awa in supporting the uplifting of the tūpāpaku was also of immense value.

This demonstration of manaakitanga was crucial to the delivery of the response and the ongoing recovery. Without it, first responders would have found it harder to perform their difficult roles, and it would have been immeasurably more difficult for victims and their whanau to get through the response and begin to transition to recovery.

The Award for Collaboration

This joint Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) and NEMA award is for exemplary individual or organisational emergency management collaboration, across any aspect of the 4Rs. It recognises collaboration outside of normal existing relationships, working together through challenges and overcoming adversity.

This award was won by Winsborough Ltd.

The Emergency Management Assistance Team (EMAT) is a flagship programme for emergency management in New Zealand that provides multi-disciplinary support to incident management teams, with personnel able to operate in austere post-disaster environments.

Winsborough Ltd led the co-design of an intensive 13-day residential training course that was co-delivered with NEMA, NZDF and Fire and Emergency NZ personnel with the support of wider agencies and subject matter experts. Three courses have been delivered providing a cadre of 46 personnel from local and central government and emergency services.

This enables the EMAT to enhance any response where the local emergency response mechanism would benefit from surge support, greatly improving response efficiency and providing better recovery outcomes for local communities.

HIGHLY COMMENDED in this category were Wellington Lifelines Group and Deaf Aotearoa.

Wellington Lifelines Group was acknowledged for their Regional Resilience Project – a true collaboration of Central Government, Local Government and all of the Wellington Lifelines Group members with private enterprise to deliver what has been recognised as a world-leading approach to infrastructure resilience analysis.

Deaf Aotearoa was acknowledged for consistently and tirelessly supporting the wider emergency management sector, by providing advice and teaming up on initiatives that support accessible emergency information for Deaf people, before, during and after emergencies. Aotearoa New Zealand is now seen as a global leader in terms or ensuring access of emergency information for Deaf people. This is in no small part thanks to Deaf Aotearoa’s collaboration with emergency management partners to enable practical steps to raise the profile and use of New Zealand Sign Language in emergency communications.

Director's Award for Innovation

Auckland Emergency Management

Awarded for: Recovery Walkthrough

Auckland Emergency Management have developed a new tool to democratise the design of programmes, policy and strategy for recovery. The Recovery Twister Walkshop uses co-design to deliver recovery planning, making the process approachable and accessible even for teams that do not hold direct roles in emergency management.

The Recovery Twister Walkshop is facilitated in the style of a board game. In the space of an hour, participants progress through three environments where they are introduced to the concept of disaster recovery, recovery in the Auckland context and real life event case studies. Participants provide their experiences, expertise and ideas to become part of a potential solution. These solutions are then captured to form part of a living and collective toolkit of resources that can be utilised in the event of a disaster.

The initial outcomes of the Recovery Twister Walkshop have been suggestions for the development of strategy and programmes, and also the design of what an Auckland recovery office could look like.

In addition to many Auckland Council departments, participants have included the Mayor of Auckland and representatives from the University of Auckland and the Ministry of Social Development.

Not only is this interactive learning and planning process engaging for the participants, it is also an easily packable solution (consisting of ready-made posters, facilitation dialogue and worksheets) that can be adapted for a wider audience and rolled out to different localities.

Cardno New Zealand Ltd and Wellington Water Ltd

Awarded for: Infrastructure Resilience: keeping water flowing to 400,000 people following a major earthquake in Wellington

Wellington Water manages the water supply network for the Wellington region. At the time of the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, they were finalising a strategy to increase the resilience of the water network to natural disasters in the long term. Following the quake, Wellington Water was tasked with further accelerating its resilience strategies to deliver a comprehensive step change in water resilience across the region in just twelve months.

Wellington Water engaged the services of Cardno New Zealand to assist them in developing an innovative approach to accelerating long term resilience strategies. The challenge was simple; deliver and implement a resilience strategy in twelve months that would allow residents of the Wellington region to access at least 20 litres of water per person ever day, within 1000m of their home.

Cardno and Wellington Water introduced an ‘islands’ approach to the regional response, breaking down the response into 17 manageable areas that need to be totally self-sufficient. The islands approach helped drive the development of the ‘Community Water Station’, a single containerised water treatment station that could extract water from local sources in each island and treat it for emergency use. Each water station is self-contained and mobile. Water is transported locally within each island using a network of hundreds of community supported water bladders.

The approach developed by Cardno and Wellington Water is being adopted by other water providers, both nationally and internationally, who share similar vulnerabilities to natural disasters.

Wellington Region Emergency Management Office Community Resilience Team

Awarded for: the development of programmes to improve community readiness and response

The Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) Community Resilience Team have produced a booklet, Your Emergency Planning Guide, to encourage members of the public to take action to improve their level of preparedness for an emergency.

The Guide uses behavioural psychology principles, applied in subtle ways, to make the step-by-step content appealing and easy to follow. Time-based triggers prompt people not to wait until an emergency happens. Goal gradient effects appeal to people more motivated to complete a task when they feel closer to achieving realistic goals. Normative messages persuade people to complete tasks because others are doing it as well. A simple perforated prompt with both preparedness information to complete and a simple to-do list for after a large earthquake also encourages readers to take action.

In November 2017 a contractor was engaged to distribute a copy of the Guide to every household in the Wellington region.

The Guide is currently being translated into 15 different languages by the Red Cross, with assistance from members of various ethnic communities around the region, to ensure that the content is readily available and easy to understand for those for whom English is not their first language.

In August 2017, the WREMO Community Resilience Team were awarded the inaugural Excellence in Emergency Communications Award by Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) for their work on the Guide.

Whakatāne District Recovery Project Team

Awarded for: the Liveable Homes Project and wider Whakatāne District Recovery

In April 2017, the Whakatāne District was faced with a significant recovery in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclones Debbie and Cook.

The Whakatāne District Council-led District Recovery Project – Kia Manawanui drew together a strong term of diversely skilled people, driven by the common purpose of efficiently and effectively restoring damaged lives, homes and infrastructure; ever mindful of seizing the opportunities to ‘build back better’ across all the recovery environments.

From day one, Kia Manawanui adopted an approach of integration, partnership and collaboration, exemplified by the establishment of a Recovery Hub which saw multi-sector agencies, stakeholders and staff working open-plan under the same roof. The Hub configuration proved invaluable in quickly building strong relationships across agencies and enabled agility in decision-making and work practices that benefitted the recovery process.

For the first time, Earthquake Commission (EQC) sat within a Recovery Hub. The Whakatāne District Council and EQC collaboration led to a ‘whole town’ clean-up process, providing an effective and efficient approach to ensure one clean-up for residents, regardless of their insurance status. Working in partnership allowed EQC to leverage local knowledge, established relationships with contractors, and ongoing recovery channels to communicate with clients.

The Liveable Homes Project was developed to support those residents who did not have the means to repair their flood-damaged homes. In addition to supporting the wellbeing of affected residents, the project was developed to minimise the escalation of the consequences of the disaster. Without the project it was anticipated that many homes would be abandoned, which would negatively impact community wellbeing and overall real estate values.

The Whakatāne District Recovery Team worked with community funding agencies, the construction industry, and other project partners to bring together a work programme which included a free building consent; strip-out of flood-damaged flooring, floor and wall linings; dry-out; and then installation of insulation, wall linings and kitchen/bathroom cabinets.

The Liveable Homes Project drew on retired professionals who were able to effectively utilise their community mana, and long-established relationships with suppliers and fellow tradespeople to secure funding and donated goods and materials.

In total over $1.4 million was raised from community funding partners, including $440,000 from the Eastern Bay Energy Trust to fund a free home insulation programme which saw over 200 families and individuals return to warmer, safer, healthier homes in affected communities across the district.

Gold Ministerial Award for Significant Contribution

David Coetzee

David Coetzee has made an invaluable contribution to CDEM by championing the successful implementation of the Emergency Mobile Alert system in New Zealand.

The ability to effectively alert the public of impending emergencies is a challenge that is widely acknowledged. Internationally, this need was highlighted by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Australian bushfires of 2009. New Zealand has been no different in exploring the available telecommunications options to issue fast alerts to people in at-risk areas.

For more than a decade, David passionately spearheaded the drive for such a solution.

David’s efforts culminated in the completion and approval of an Indicative Business Case, followed by a Detailed Business Case. In parallel, a budget bid was prepared to support the implementation and ongoing costs of the Cell Broadcasting service. Mobile operators and partner agencies were brought into the fray, and Public Alerting, as it was referred to at the time, was put out to market.

David led this, all the while performing his busy duties as the Manager of Capability & Operations, the National Controller, and dealing with many emergencies along the way. He worked nights and weekends to ensure the milestones of the business process were met, the partners were engaged and the issues were managed.

The earthquakes and tsunamis at East Cape and Kaikōura in the latter part of 2016 continued to throw the spotlight on the need for public alerting, and the Government responded by releasing funds for the project but to be delivered in half the time. A dedicated project team was now on the job. Little more than one year after the Kaikōura earthquake, a successful nationwide test of Cell Broadcasting, now called Emergency Mobile Alerts, made New Zealanders aware that an important new tool could now keep them informed and safe.

David Coetzee has worked tirelessly to turn the dream into a vision, the vision into a plan, and the plan into reality. Many have contributed to the success of Emergency Mobile Alerts, but it is his dedication and professionalism that has been the constant feature. CDEM and the people of New Zealand are indebted his great public service and significant contribution to emergency management.

Silver Ministerial Award for Significant Contribution

Derek Phyn

Derek Phyn, a Geographic Information System (GIS) Analyst with Waikato Regional Council, has made a significant contribution to CDEM through his efforts in promoting the use of GIS in emergency management.  Working alongside Paul Doherty from Eagle Technologies, Derek realised that the full potential of GIS in emergency use, as demonstrated by Paul, could not be realised without a coordinated approach across the entire country.  Derek took on the enormous task of promoting and leading a forum from which grass roots innovation could be harnessed from engaged GIS experts from councils and other partnering agencies in CDEM.  This forum became known as the New Zealand GIS for Emergency Management (NZGIS4EM) Community and currently stands at about 250 members.

Promoting the importance of Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS), Derek garnered buy-in and enthusiasm for the application of GIS in the emergency environment and the need for common data standards and interoperability.  Though still on the journey, the NZGIS4EM Community is fast becoming the nation’s powerhouse of grass roots innovation and collaboration, moving GIS application in New Zealand to previously unseen levels.  This huge step forward is, in no small part, due to the tireless efforts on behalf of Derek to bring together the leading edge innovation of Paul Doherty and the grass-roots desire of the GIS practitioners to utilise their technology in the best way possible.

Derek has also promoted the integration of GIS to end users, presenting to such groups as the National Welfare Forum and Lifeline Forum to explain both the potential of GIS and how important it is to share the necessary data to enhance its application further.  His efforts have led to a growing number of data holders championing the cause with their own organisations.

Derek has also applied his own skills to enhance or support CDEM response in his own and neighbouring regions through GIS.  This includes developing a common regional mapping portal across Waikato and Bay of Plenty; building and launching intelligence tools to assist with situational awareness and public information sharing; and assisting remotely with community coordination during the January 2018 Firth of Thames inundation event and Cyclone Gita. 

In the words of the Waikato Group Controller, “Derek’s efforts and passion for building situational awareness through GIS has jumped us ahead further than we could have ever had hoped for.  His actions directly support our response capability probably more than any other single improvement to date.”

Paul Doherty

Paul arrived in New Zealand in mid-2016 to work for Eagle Technology Ltd as a Senior Geographic Information System (GIS) Consultant. He was initially tasked with helping Bay of Plenty Lifelines Group identify their critical and vulnerable assets using geospatial tools.

The trajectory of Paul’s work changed as he moved on to assisting BoP GIS plan, preparing for Exercise Tangaroa and helping Pacific Island nations establish their initial online GIS capability for emergency management. Then the 14 November 2016 Kaikōura earthquake and tsunami happened. Many testimonials submitted with his nomination for this award provide examples of Paul’s contribution in that emergency.

Paul was deployed to the Bay of Plenty to assist with intelligence for ex-Cyclones Debbie and Cook and also put in immense personal effort to assist remotely with those agencies using GIS for the Port Hills Fires, the Otago/Canterbury floods and Cyclones Fehi and Gita. The feedback from all of those who worked with Paul is universally positive; helpful, genuine, polite, pro-active, innovative, hard-working, selfless, patient, valuable.

Further, Paul has proven nothing but altruistic in his advice and guidance; and he has never put commercial interests first. He was here to promote innovation and best practice for GIS in Emergency Management, regardless of who you worked for or what tools you used.

What Paul has done for the New Zealand GIS and Emergency Management sectors is cause a paradigm shift in thinking around not just intelligence, but how GIS can be a game changer for all aspects of emergency management. The tools he has introduced can provide a common operational picture in real-time. Something that is critical in today’s fast paced world of intelligence and public information management.

Paul initiated the New Zealand GIS for Emergency Management (NZGIS4EM) community by convincing Eagle Technology to host several free workshops around the country. These workshops sparked relationships between like-minded GIS and Emergency Management professionals, broke down barriers, and exploded into a strong, pro-active, collaborative community of more than 250 members from a range of sectors around the country.

Significantly, there has been a change in mind-set. There has been a shift from not even thinking about mapping before or during emergencies, or at best getting a couple of small paper maps up on the wall, to realising that GIS and its practitioners can provide many key aspects of a common operational picture for emergency management in real-time. This is thanks to the collaboration of the NZGIS4EM Community, and recognition of the importance of data standards in this area and the promotion of interoperability by the private sector. Most importantly this is all thanks to the innovation, vision, leadership, inspiration and sheer hard work of Paul Doherty.

Claire Nyberg

Claire Nyberg has made a positive and lasting contribution to the local, regional and national Welfare arrangements within the CDEM community over the past 2 years. In her role as the Northland Welfare Coordination Group chair Claire identified the opportunity to enhance and develop a sector-driven work program, developing practical tolls that assist all CDEM Groups with implementation of the reviewed Welfare Director's Guideline.

Claire developed, led and coordinated the Welfare Practical Tools project over the two-year period that it has been funded by the national resilience fund. This project worked across multiple CDEM Groups and in partnership with numerous agencies. The outcomes of this project will enhance the capability of the Welfare sector in preparing for and responding to any emergency.

During this time Claire has become the "go to" person for welfare advice, guidance and expertise. She was deployed to Edgecumbe as a Welfare Manager; has been the lead in developing and teaching the Welfare Supervisors training across the sector and has developed a reputation as a specialist in the Welfare field.

Claire's contribution to CDEM over the past two years is notable for her perseverance to ensure that the best possible tools are available to the Welfare Sector and for her exceptional dedication and commitment.

John Clarke

John was the local controller for the Waikohu Council from 1983-1989.

Cyclone Bola in 1988 had a huge impact on the Tairawhiti Area and John was involved with the Civil Defence response and recovery of the Waikohu Council area while his farm and home were severely impacted leaving Barbara and his family to deal with the clean-up.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Bola as County Chairman John was involved in advocating on the Waikohu areas behalf for resources to assist recovery to infrastructure and private dwellings.

In 1989 Waikohu Council amalgamated with other rural councils to form the Gisborne District Council. John was the Mayor of Gisborne from 1989 – 2001. In 2002 John took over as the Group Recovery Manager and Alternate Group Controller. He is still involved with CDEM in these positions today, acting as controller for Controller for a number of events including the Te Araroa Earthquake in 2015 and Kaikōura earthquake 2016.

John has been Recovery Manager for three significant flood events and the Gisborne earthquake in 2007.

John’s sound common sense, experience, knowledge of the district and people have made him an invaluable team member for over thirty years.

Particular recognition for Barbara should also be acknowledged for the support she has given John over the time of his involvement with CDEM and the support she has provided to affected communities when John was Mayor.

Director's Award for Innovation

Tauranga City Council and Tonkin + Taylor Limited

Awarded for: mitigating tsunami risk

Until recently, thousands of people would have been at risk from a local source tsunami in the Mount Maunganui area However,due to the work of the Council and Tonkin + Taylor, that risk has been substantially reduced.

 More than 46,000 people live on the coastal plain spanning from Mount Maunganui to Papamoa. A tsunami resulting from a local source earthquake could inundate parts of Mauao and Wairakei within 60 minutes or less.

Over the past four years, Tauranga City Council, led by Paul Baunton, has been focussed on building resilience to tsunamis. In 2014, work began with GNS Science undertaking research to quantify the size of a tsunami that could result from a large local source earthquake.

The Council then contracted Tonkin + Taylor to carry out numerical modelling which simulated the flow of a potential tsunami, and identified areas above or outside the inundation zone. Using a Geographic Information Systems model, they were also able to determine how long it would take residents to reach safe areas, how many would use the evacuations routes, and how many would arrive at the various safe areas.

A pedestrian-based evacuation network was developed which lead people to sixteen safe assembly points. Some of these points are located outside the inundation zone, while Vertical Evacuation Structures such as Gordon Spratt Reserve in Papamoa use raised land to protect lives and are the first to be constructed outside of Japan and the Pacific North-West of America. Prominent signage reminds people of the tsunami risk and outlines the likely extent of the inundation size.

Public education has been critical: there have been a number of open days and feedback has been positive.  Further work is planned, including three more Vertical Evacuation Structures in Wairakei, further signage, and additional bridges and evacuation routes.

Congratulations to Tauranga City Council and Tonkin + Taylor Limited. Your work will help to keep your communities safe, and it is my pleasure to present the Director’s Award for Innovation to you tonight. 

Silver Ministerial Award for Significant Contribution

Pat Dougherty

Awarded for: Leadership, contributions to the formation and success of WREMO and contributions to the CDEM Resilience Fund review panel

Adrian Patrick (Pat) Dougherty was first appointed to an Emergency Management leadership role in March 2005 when he was designated as an Alternative Group Controller by the Nelson Tasman CDEM Group; a role he held until his departure in August 2008 to become Chief Executive Officer of the Kapiti Coast District Council.

In October 2010, he was elected Chair of the Coordinating Executive Group (CEG) as part of the Wellington CDEM Group. At that time, the Group was fragmented, not only at the governance and management levels, but also within the disparate council based CDEM teams. This left the region exposed with inconsistent approaches to both readiness and response, and more importantly, confusing messages to the public. This presented a less than desirable situation for a region where many people live in one city/district and work in another.

Pat’s contribution to the resulting amalgamation and reform programme was his leadership and determination. At a time when there was little appetite for amalgamation, Pat convinced the councils of the potential that could be achieved by optimising the operational synergies between their respective staff; with each council giving up direct control for the collective benefit of the region.

This saw the various CDEM teams of the region reform as one unified organisation supporting all nine councils of the region, with a mandate to consider fresh approaches to traditional sector challenges. The resulting organisation, the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO), has been instrumental in boosting grass-roots resilience at the community level.

In addition to his work at Group level, Pat has also contributed at a national level as a member of the CDEM Resilience Fund review panel. This is a key role, providing an independent assessment of applications to the CDEM Resilience Fund. Pat was appointed when the CDEM Resilience Fund was established in 2010 and remained on the panel until 2015.

Robert Upton

Awarded for: Contributions to the Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management Group over the past 25 years.

 Rob was appointed as an Alternate Group Controller in 1992 and then Group Controller in 2004. Rob was Group Controller during a significant event in 2006 that required considerable coordination of the emergency services and partner agencies in the face of extreme weather that affected a wide area of South Canterbury for several weeks. Rob was one of the Group Controllers for the Christchurch earthquake response in September 2010.

The earthquake in February 2011 was a major event for Canterbury and once again Rob was the Group Controller. Following the declaration of a state of national emergency and the move to Christchurch of the National Controller, Rob assumed the appointment of Operations Director in the National Operations Centre, where he played a key role in the response.

Rob consistently demonstrated strong leadership skills as a Controller. He has a wealth of emergency management knowledge and at all times shared this with his colleagues. Rob worked hard at all times to raise the capabilities and standards of local Controllers throughout Canterbury. He organised regular training activities that covered a range of contingencies, these were well planned and very well received by those attending them. Rob has also participated in national training activities for Controllers.

In August 2011, Rob took on the appointment of Group Welfare Manager, an appointment he held until his retirement in May 2017. During this time, Rob oversaw the transition to the new national arrangements for delivering welfare during an emergency. This included the development of a new Group Welfare Plant for Canterbury. Rob’s competent chairmanship of the Group Welfare Co-ordination Group ensured this became a very effective group involving welfare agency representatives.

Rob has shown outstanding leadership as a Controller and as a welfare manager. He has at all times encouraged a practical and realistic approach to enable the sector to learn from its experiences. He has worked hard at maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders and has earned respect at both a local and national level. Rob has helped develop the professionalism of emergency management not only in Canterbury but also across New Zealand.

This Ministerial Silver Significant Contribution to CDEM Award recognises the contribution Rob has made to Canterbury CDEM Group.

David Scott (posthumous)

Awarded for: Volunteer efforts and services to communications  

David Scott passed away unexpectedly in 2015 following a battle with cancer. Dave’s passing was a tragic blow for his family and many friends in the Nelson community. It also denied the CDEM Group an opportunity to nominate Dave for an award to thank him publicly for his enormous voluntary service to civil defence emergency management over many years. This award is therefore made posthumously, in an effort to recognise the generous and talented contributions of Dave towards civil defence in his community.

Dave Scott was involved with Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) for many years and in that capacity he became a volunteer with the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. The current CDEM Group staff are not certain when Dave’s involvement first began, but meeting minutes from the Group’s Readiness and Response Committee indicate Dave’s official presence being recorded from the early 2000’s, though it is likely he was involved in other roles from earlier dates.

From about 2005, Dave Scott became the lead advisor for emergency communications for the Nelson Tasman Civil Defence Emergency Management Group. He declined to take on a formal title, but he was effectively the ‘go to’ person for technical advice, liaison with other agencies, liaison with regional communications providers, and undertaking repair/maintenance work. Dave was paid for some of the maintenance work that he undertook for the CDEM Group, however he frequently under-quoted his time and contributed countless hours of voluntary time.

Dave represented AREC on the Readiness and Response Committee and led work to maintain and improve the regional radio communications network in Nelson City and Tasman District. In recent years Dave was a key advisor in getting some fairly big projects completed including support for a revamp of the regional emergency communications network and resolving issues with the regional repeator network. Dave was also a key advisor in establishing the communications requirement in the Group’s new Emergency Operations Centre in Richmond. Dave assisted in setting up a network of VHF radios around the region which are today staffed by volunteers and which, every Thursday, report in via a radio check run by AREC.

This Ministerial Silver Significant Contribution to CDEM Award recognises the contribution Dave made to Nelson Tasman CDEM Group over many years.

Gold Ministerial Award for Significant Contribution

Tairāwhiti Civil Defence Emergency Management Group – Community Link Groups

Awarded for: Community contributions to preparedness  

The Tairāwhiti CDEM Community Link Groups have set an excellent example on how to be prepared, take the right action at the right time, and to work as a community to look after each other. They stand out as having gone over and above expectations to respond to long or strong earthquakes that have the potential to cause a local tsunami and taking action during distant source tsunami warnings.

This award acknowledges their long term readiness built over years and support to their communities during severe weather (heavy rain, snow and cyclones). These communities have demonstrated they know the right action to take to the rest of New Zealand and have moved from awareness to true behavioural change.

The Tairāwhiti CDEM Community Link Groups were formed after Cyclone Bola. Their approach to emergency management was supported by the previous Civil Defence Emergency Manager, Richard Steele and the current CDEM Manager, Louise Bennett, and Team has maintained this momentum.

There is a high level of commitment in each community link groups, including the services provided by long-standing Area Coordinators, many who have been involved for a number of years.

Tairāwhiti CDEM Community Link Groups have been referenced multiple times in the media setting examples of model communities taking the right action for tsunami warnings. Even when the threat turns out to be small, these communities celebrate that they have done the correct thing.

This Ministerial Gold Significant Contribution to CDEM Award recognises the actions of these communities and wants to acknowledge and congratulate both their readiness and their actions in response.

Director's Award for Innovation

David Askin

Following the February 2011 earthquakes, David saw a need for communities to be better connected, organised and prepared to help themselves and each other.  David created the Gets Ready software and the Selwyn Gets Ready website.  The website allows users to securely record their household contact details and any special needs, resources and skills they have and are willing to share during an emergency.

David’s local community, Darfield, embraced the system with hundreds of households signing up.  Selwyn District Council recognised the value of David’s website and decided to promote it across the District.  There are now over 5,900 households signed up to Selwyn Gets Ready, that’s around a third of all households in the District.

Selwyn District Council’s Civil Defence Emergency Management team find Selwyn Gets Ready is an invaluable tool to alert Selwyn residents to important information that will directly affect them.  Situation reports from the community can be sent to Selwyn District Council via the website or the mobile app.  This empowers communities to take care of themselves, while providing tools to request help should they need it.

Selwyn Gets Ready was the dream of one community minded man with a vision to help his community become better prepared and connected.  With the help of his community, David has realised that dream.  It fits with the New Zealand system of emergency management in that it allows communities to be involved in the emergency management process and it contributes significantly to community readiness, response and recovery.

Firth

RibRaft TC3 was conceptualised on a paper napkin on a flight following a visit to Christchurch in the wake of the devastating 2011 earthquakes.  Realising the idea had real practical appeal, Jon Hambling, Dene Cook, Andrew Moss and Dominic Sutton further developed the concept of an adjustable residential concrete flooring system. Whilst the first project was cast in Christchurch, the RibRaft TC3 system is now being used nationwide on thousands of projects. 

This fully re-levelable twin slab flooring system is a world first.  In the event of a house settling following a strong earthquake, it can readily be re-levelled without removing cladding or internal walls.  The double slab system is stiff and easily resists deformations induced by post-earthquake settlement.  The RibRaft TC3 therefore reduces the risk of earthquake damage and reduces the impact of a disaster on the home occupants by providing resilience.  In case of excessive settlements the upper slab contains cast-in jacks that can be accessed with minimal disruption to the home owners.  The ability to relevel a home quickly and without the need for intrusive and prolonged measures enables rapid emergency response and recovery.

RibRaft TC3 enables homeowners to quickly and readily repair significant damage and continue to live in their home following an emergency.  This innovative solution gives effect, in an evolutionary way, to civil defence emergency management principles supporting families to stay in their home environment. 

The Firth RibRaft TC3 solution provides an excellent and truly innovative building platform that will enable families to continue to occupy their homes, and quickly and cheaply repair significant earthquake damage.

CDEM Silver Award: for important contributions to CDEM in New Zealand

Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood has made an invaluable and lasting impression on the CDEM sector through his establishment and leadership of the successful Integrated Training Framework. Prior to the establishment of the Integrated Training Framework, training of New Zealand CDEM staff had been predominantly ad-hoc with no national standardisation or direction, being left to individual CDEM Groups and Territorial Authorities.

In 2012, Lee identified the need for standardised and integrated training of CDEM staff in the Waikato CDEM group to both improve the standard of training for individual staff, and to improve the interoperability of emergency operations centre staff across boundaries. Lee took the initiative to engage with neighbouring CDEM groups, and it soon became apparent that this was a common challenge faced by all.

Lee set up the Integrated Training Framework with the establishment of a steering group aimed to develop a collaborative approach to drive the standardised development and implementation of training. Lee chaired the steering group committee and continues to do so today.

Lee has put in a tremendous effort to pull together resources from across many CDEM groups, resolving differences of opinion and facilitating improved collaboration and the identification of common approaches. The process has taken a considerable amount of time which has meant that Lee has had to juggle the work of his CDEM roles and responsibilities, often at the personal sacrifice of time with his family. The Integrated Training Framework is an example of the way progress can be made when effort and resources are combined with committed support

While the Integrated Training Framework has been a success due to the contributions of all stakeholders, it would not have achieved what it has without Lee’s dedication, commitment, and drive.

David Johnston

David Johnston has made an outstanding and sustained contribution to emergency management over the past 25 years.

David was a key New Zealand contributor to the five year effort that culminated in the third World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan and the follow-up New Zealand Symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction held at Te Papa, Wellington on 15 June 2015.

Linked to the Sendai process, David initiated the new Integrated Research on Disaster Risk International Centre of Excellence in Community Resilience in order to examine how communities make themselves resilient to future disasters. The benefits of the International Centre of Excellence include opportunities to highlight New Zealand research within this international network, directly inform and contribute to best practice in the Wellington Region, and help build and integrate capacity across New Zealand.

This work sits alongside 25 years of involvement in emergency management in New Zealand. David has led a range of research, training, capacity building and continuing professional development initiatives. David’s roles include Theme Leader within the Natural Hazards Research Platform, Director of the Joint Centre for Disaster Research and Chair of Massey University’s Emergency Management Programme Board of Studies. David has mentored GNS and Massey staff, coordinated postgraduate papers in emergency management and supervised postgraduate students. This work is complemented by his international work as Chair of the Scientific Committee of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk from 2012-2015 and as a member of the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction Scientific and Technical Advisory Group from 2013-2016.

David has authored or co-authored 136 articles for leading peer-reviewed journals, co-authored over 25 book chapters and over 65 science reports. David’s scholar-practitioner reputation and peer recognition is reflected in invitations to provide expert advice to key international organisations, play leadership roles in international research initiatives and deliver keynote addresses at major national and international conferences. David’s work in the emergency management community has been, and will continue to be, immensely influential throughout New Zealand and abroad.

Murray Sinclair

Murray Sinclair has been a pivotal player in Canterbury CDEM over the last two decades, particularly in the wake of the 2010 earthquakes.

In 1996 Murray was assigned responsibility for disaster management planning for Christchurch City Council and, following a review of CDEM arrangements, was appointed as the Unit Manager, Civil Defence and Emergency Management.

Murray was the Emergency Operations Centre Response Manager during the response to the September 2010 and February 2011 earthquakes. Murray supported Christchurch City Council staff and volunteers during this challenging time and his steadfastness, dedication, guidance and compassion during this time is an enduring memory for his team.

Murray has been a passionate supporter of CDEM volunteers. This was evidenced by the large number of volunteers in Christchurch, particularly in Welfare and Response Teams, and the significant role these volunteers undertook during the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

A dedicated advocate for CDEM, Murray has encouraged a culture of continuous improvement. He has actioned recommendations from the Review of the Earthquake Response and the MCDEM monitoring and evaluation programme to ensure Christchurch continues to model best practice.

Murray has represented Christchurch City Council throughout the planning for the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct. This project is one of the Government’s anchor projects in the city and is significant in the recovery landscape. Working with numerous stakeholders, Murray has ensured the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct has paved the way for improved coordination and collaboration between agencies, during both business and usual and response.

Murray has tirelessly encouraged risk reduction, readiness, response and recovery activities during his tenure. He has been a wealth of information and advice for Christchurch City Council and others in the region, and has willingly shared his expertise nationally and internationally.

Without Murray’s leadership Christchurch would be less safe and its people less prepared.

Silver Awards

Liz Brooker, community volunteer, Ruapehu District, for the social media communications system she developed during a local drinking water crisis.

Phil Parker, Taupō Emergency Management Officer, Waikato CDEM Group, for sustained, professional contribution to civil defence emergency management.

Langley Cavers, CE Hauraki District Council, Waikato CDEM Group, for significant contribution to enhancing the Waikato CDEM Group.

Northland CDEM Group, recognising tireless effort of staff and volunteers during three storm events in July 2014.

Gold Awards

Orion New Zealand Limited, which owns and operates the electricity distribution network covering central Canterbury. Orion has set the benchmark for resilience for all providers and operators of lifeline utilities in New Zealand. Strengthened sub-stations, resilient communications and network information systems, a well led and highly motivated work team, and planned staff supplementation enable Orion to quickly understand impacts and outages. The 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes and the strong winds and snow of 2013 proved the value of Orion’s investment to Canterbury’s communities and businesses, and to New Zealand’s economy.

Simon Markham, Recovery Manager for the Waimakariri District Council. Following the earthquakes of 2010-11, Simon delivered a resoundingly successful community-focussed recovery operation that has been recognised in Waimakariri, Canterbury, nationally and increasingly, internationally. Simon shouldered the responsibility without hesitation. He devised the recovery plan and oversaw its implementation. His brilliant thinking, tenacity, leadership, quiet confidence and co-operative spirit produced a recovery plan focussed singularly on the well-being of the people. His work has greatly assisted the physical rebuild of Waimakariri communities and also their morale, confidence and psychological well-being.

Silver Awards

Jennifer Rowan, recent Chair of the Wellington CDEM Group and Mayor of Kapiti, for her outstanding public leadership and significant personal courage in advocating for reform in the Wellington CDEM Group.

Jim Frater, Nelson-Tasman CDEM Group Controller, for his outstanding leadership and ability as a controller in managing numerous responses.

Basil Morrison, Chair of Local Government Commission, for outstanding leadership in the Waikato region at times of crisis, and many years’ service as a local controller and elected official.

Kim Manahi, Emergency Preparedness Co-ordinator for the Ngai Tahu Runaka, for outstanding initiative and commitment to helping local communities be better prepared for a civil defence emergency, and ensuring marae are well-prepared to look after whanau, the community, response workers, and manuhiri that might need assistance in an emergency.

Jonathan Davies, Gisborne CDEM Group Controller, through outstanding leadership and management has developed strong and collaborative relationships with response partners, emergency services, and local businesses that have significantly enhanced CDEM in the Gisborne District.

Gold Award

GNS Science Hazards Group. The award recognises the hazards Group’s outstanding contribution to the development of CDEM in New Zealand over a lengthy period through research into natural hazards, contribution to risk mitigation measures, development of local plans and readiness measures, and advice to all levels of the response during the Canterbury earthquakes.

Silver Awards

Dave Brunsdon, Chief Executive of the Kestrel Group, for his commitment to and support to the development of resilience in lifeline utilities and work with urban search and rescue.

John Forbes, Mayor of Opotiki District, for his advocacy of CDEM in the Bay of Plenty CDEM Group.

John Hamilton, Director of Civil Defence Emergency Management, for his leadership as National Controller during the response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Jo Guard and Anita Komen, New Zealand ShakeOut National Coordinators, for their development and implementation of New Zealand ShakeOut in 2012.

Bob Parker, Mayor of Christchurch City, for his community leadership following the 22 February 2011 earthquake.

Diane Turner, recent CE of Whakatane District Council and a CDEM Controller for her leadership and advocacy of CDEM preparedness and resilience in the community.