National is accusing the Internal Affairs Minister of hiding as firefighters prepare to walk off the job for an hour on Friday.

National’s Fire and Emergency spokesperson Todd Muller said “just two days out from industrial strike action, Jan Tinetti is nowhere to be seen or heard, despite being the Minister responsible for FENZ. 

It has been like this for months despite the organisation being at breaking point due to a lack of staff, poor resourcing and procurement, bullying, mismanagement, and wasteful spending.

Firefighters don’t want to close station doors but feel they have no other option. They are at their wit’s end because Minister Tinetti and FENZ keep turning a blind eye to their concerns.”

Muller said “it is concerning that the Minister has nothing to say about a Crown agency that can’t resolve its equipment or fire truck issues despite a capital spend of $468 million in the last five years and receiving $200 million more in revenue than expected after its merger.”

New Zealand Professional Firefighters’ Union Vice President Joseph Stanley said the minister did meet with the union.

“She has told us that she can hear us, that she’s heard her issues. But that’s not enough for us.

We need to see some practical changes. We need to see a change in attitude from Fire and Emergency New Zealand, who continue to espouse the rhetoric that they are doing everything they can to resolve this.

Mr Stanley said “It’s just untrue. It’s just lies. And it’s really, really disappointing. I would like to see a greater move from the government to bring Fire and Emergency management into line and to listen to the concerns that our members have.”