‘Lives owed to Civil Defence’

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 13

‘Lives owed to Civil Defence’

PA Wellington Many Southlanders owed their lives to Civil Defence, a Government member of Parliament has said. Without the well drilled response of the Civil Defence organisation at local, regional, and national level “it would have been inevitable that loss of life would have occurred,” said the Under-Secretary :of Civil Defence, Mr Thompson. Speaking at a Civil Defence seminar at Porirua, Mr Thompson outlined the provisions of new legislation put to the test for the first time after the Southland floods. He said that while it was too soon to give .detailed judgments of now the new act . worked, the. Civil Defence organisation had performed creditably.

He said there could be no doubt there would continue to be a need for effective community-based Civil Defence organisations “with an increasing number of trained and committed personnel.”

New Zealand was recognised as having a high potential for natural disasters “and preparedness in all communities to cope with emergencies when they strike and in tidying up afterwards must continue to be a fundamental feature of our society.”

The spirit of voluntary commitment was a traditional and essential feature of New Zealand’s society, enabling a range of services which could not be sustained if fully paid for, Mr Thompson said.