A 52,000-signature petition seeking an independent inquiry into Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) will be delivered to Parliament on Wednesday, sharpening scrutiny of how the service uses nearly $800 million collected annually through insurance.
Members of the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) will strike from noon to 1pm before joining supporters at Parliament. Governance and Administration Committee chair Jan Tinetti and other MPs are due to receive the petition at about 12.20pm.
The union wants a broader examination of FENZ’s funding, expenditure and ability to provide a reliable emergency response, including how levy revenue is converted into frontline capability.
Levies on property and vehicle insurance supplied 95% of FENZ’s $838 million revenue in 2024-25. Insurers and intermediaries calculate, collect and remit the charge without compensation, while policyholders bear a cost equivalent to about 5% of a standard home premium and approximately 9% of premiums across products subject to the levy, according to Insurance Council of New Zealand figures.
Industry bodies want the insurance-based funding model replaced, arguing that FENZ serves the whole community while its costs fall mainly on insured households and businesses. Only 59% of incidents recorded between July 2025 and March 2026, including false alarms, were fire-related; the remainder included medical emergencies, maritime incidents and severe weather events.
The levy applies to fire and motor insurance contracts covering property in New Zealand. Changes introduced on July 1 shifted the calculation for commercial property from indemnity value to sum insured, increasing the levy exposure of businesses carrying more complete protection.
The petition follows the Governance and Administration Committee’s final report on FENZ fleet management, presented on 15 September. The inquiry examined procurement delays, the condition of fire appliances and inconsistencies in information supplied by FENZ.
More than 52% of the fleet was beyond its target age in May 2026, up from 23% when FENZ was established in 2017, the committee found. It said the problem could signal wider concerns about the organisation’s capacity and capability, called for a “rapid reset of culture” towards operational priorities and risks, and questioned whether FENZ should continue procuring fleet and other services without greater government oversight.
The committee also rejected FENZ’s stated 99.72% response rate because it excluded cases in which an appliance was unavailable, failed to start or could not leave a station.
“We think the information given to us by FENZ is misleading as to the true situation,” the committee said. In its discussion of appliance availability, it added: “This appears intentionally misleading.”
FENZ has accepted the inquiry’s findings and apologised for weaknesses in procurement, contract management, governance oversight and the information supplied to the committee.
“Firefighters and communities are entitled to expect better. We apologise for the shortcomings and for the frustration and concerns this has caused,” board chair Raveen Jaduram said.
Pressure intensified last week when Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden said she no longer had confidence in chief executive Kerry Gregory. She said information about a serious historical matter had been withheld from her and the issue referred to the Serious Fraud Office.
“In the last couple of weeks I have become aware of a serious breach of the no surprises principle within Fire and Emergency. It is of a nature that is so significant that I no longer have confidence in the chief executive of Fire and Emergency, or have confidence that the information I am receiving is correct,” van Velden said.
The minister did not disclose the full circumstances. The matter has been reported as concerning the administration of levies collected through insurance contracts, although FENZ has said Gregory himself was not referred to the SFO.
The Department of Internal Affairs is separately examining possible funding alternatives, including whether insurance is the only feasible collection method. The work remains at the information-gathering stage, with no developed reforms or planned changes.
For now, insurers and intermediaries will continue collecting the levy under rates fixed for three years from July 1, 2026. The current model is budgeted to generate $904 million in 2026/27 as scrutiny of how FENZ spends that revenue intensifies.
