Disaster plan brings NZ business together

Demolition of the damaged Holiday Inn Hotel in Christchurch. Some of New Zealand's big businesses have joined forces to help make the country more resilient to natural disasters.

A handful of New Zealand businesses have joined forces to change how the country prepares for and responds to natural disasters.

Beca, BNZ, IAG, New Zealand Red Cross and Vodafone have formed 'Resilient New Zealand', a group which aims to identify and advocate ways to make New Zealand more resilient to disasters.

Bryce Davies of IAG corporate affairs, said there was "a real need" for preparation due to the impact natural disasters have on communities and the economy.

"[The initiative] stems from the fact that natural hazards are recognised as a strategic risk for New Zealand. When natural disasters do occur they are going to have a massive impact on communities from a social point of view and certainly from an economical point of view," Davies said.

"The better that we can minimise the impact [natural disasters] have, the faster we can recover from them and that is good all round. It is going to have benefits from an economic point of view and it is going to have benefits from a social point of view."

Secretary general of the New Zealand Red Cross, Tony Paine, said a lot of changes would need to be made before the country would be prepared for a natural disaster.

"As a country, we are well known for the strength of our communities, but there's a lot more we should and could be doing to ensure that everyone is prepared for and supported during the next disaster we may face together," Paine said.

"Communities need to be linked together from large businesses to the corner store and local sports club, with families, neighbours and colleagues all prepared to help out during a natural disaster."
The groups first undertaking is a project called 'The Role of Business in Recovery' which will seek to improve how the private sector contributes to the economic and social wellbeing of their communities following a natural disaster.

Around 50 interviews with government, business and community leaders, primarily in the Canterbury region, will be conducted as part of the project to draw on their experiences from the 2011 Christchurch earthquake.
A report on the groups findings will be released later in the year.