Civil Defence “Exonerated”

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31659, 20 April 1968, Page 1

Civil Defence “Exonerated”

The Civil Defence organisation in Christchurch was entirely exonerated at a meeting attended last Tuesday by the police and City Council officers, the Mayor (Sir George Manning) said yesterday, commenting on the controversy over the conduct of the organisation during the recent storm. The controversy could well have ended then, he said. Referring to a statement bv the Minister of Civil Defence (Mr Seath) that the Civil Defence officer in Christchurch (Mr J. F Moffat) should not have gone to bed when he did, and that Christchurch was one of the centres where civil defence had failed to operate. Sir George Manning said the police had said they were quite satisfied with the overall organisation during the flooding.

The regional . controller (Brigadier J. T. Burrows) said he would like to get the reaction of all those concerned before commenting on the new proposals suggested by the Minister. There could be many other changes decided on by the Minister in the light of new evidence. Support for the Mayor was expressed by Mr E. J. Bradshaw, the Mayor of Riccarton and a member of the civil defence committee, last evening. “I am sure I voice the opinion of all local bodies in the metropolitan area when I say that Mr Moffat is a competent and conscientious officer in whom we have complete confidence,” Mr Bradshaw said. “Having received an assurance from the police that the situation was being handled adequately and that there was no cause for civil defence action and having confirmed with his chairman that no emergency should be declared. Mr Moffat acted entirely within his instructions.” If his action required any confirmation it lay in the fact that the many local body and Government department men

who were working throughout the night and day repairing damage and giving assistance where needed made no call for civil defence assistance. Mr Bradshaw continued. "To see Mr Moffat crucified as he has been over the last few days by people who should know better is, to say the least, most disturbing,” he said. “If any blame attaches it should be directed towards the members of the committee, of whom I am one, not to an officer who has very lim ited opportunity to defend himself. “Any deficiencies, and clearly there are many, stem from the civil defence legislation itself, and it ill becomes the legislators to attempt to shift the blame.” The public should not be led to believe that every time similar circumstances arose through flooding it would be necessary to call civil defence in to take charge, Mr C. M. A Thompson, Cashmere sub-area civil defence warden, said yesterday. “This situation needs an inquiry, because statements from both sides are completely at variance,” he said.

The Leader of the Opposition (Mr Kirk) had made political capital out of events last week and his remarks had upset the morale of civil defence workers and those who were prepared to give their time to help the community in a national or a local disaster. “The public should realise that if civil defence is to be called out every time there is heavy rain and local flooding, it will do nothing more than take over the normal work of the police and local bodies," he said. “According to my knowledge, civil defence was never set up for that purpose.”