New Zealand Defence Force ready for high-risk weather season

The frigate  HMNZS Te Kaha and the multi-role ship HMNZS Canterbury and their crews, the Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Task Unit consisting of land forces, and various Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft are on standby to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief tasks should they be required.

Two NZDF personnel have also joined the Brisbane-based Pacific Response Group (PRG) to help coordinate military response efforts to weather events.

The PRG is an initiative of the South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting, designed to strengthen coordination and readiness, and improve the effectiveness of military contributions to humanitarian crises in the Pacific.  

It brings together militaries from Australia, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga, with the aim of providing rapid humanitarian assistance and disaster relief options that complement local and international civilian efforts. 

Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, Major General Rob Krushka, said the NZDF was committed to standing with its Pacific whānau. 

“Each year the high-risk weather season brings an elevated chance of cyclones and extreme weather in the Pacific.  

“We always hope it doesn't happen, but if it does, we are prepared to provide our expertise and assets to support our regional partners and civilian agencies in response.

“We remain ready, interoperable and working shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners when communities need us.” 

In recent years, the NZDF has been called on to assist in the response to 2015’s Cyclone Pam which struck Vanuatu, Tuvalu and Kiribati, 2016’s Cyclone Winston which hit Fiji, and the Tongan volcanic eruption in 2022.