NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Gerry Brownlee furious with Geonet comments

Nicholas Jones
By Nicholas Jones
Investigative Reporter·NZ Herald·
20 Nov, 2016 04:55 AM7 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Source: Facebook / Clayton Lindstrom

Acting Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has blasted comments made by the head of Geonet - saying he feels blindsided.

Brownlee said he took issue with Dr Ken Gledhill, who works for GNS Science and heads its Geonet department, talking publicly about how better technology would help the service, when no approach had been made to the Government.

Brownlee said he would contact the leadership of GNS Science, including acting chief executive Neal Wai Poi, tomorrow and express that view.

That centred on the fact that Gledhill or his team had not made an approach or report to the Government about their view that a better monitoring system was desirable.

Gledhill spoke to media from the Beehive's civil defence bunker today. He said his team had a good idea of what system improvements could be made, but hadn't yet asked the Government to support those changes.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Prime Minister John Key this week said a national disaster warning system that would likely send a text to every cellphone in the country is not far away, and Gledhill said there were also technological improvements that would aid analysis that informed those alerts.

"Definitely. Can I use an analogy of a pilot sitting in the cockpit of an aircraft, and he's got all these gauges and dials and things around him. If we had a set-up like that - where all the data was being displayed, and easily can be assimilated, and we had a staffed centre, we would be different.

"At the moment it's a bit like each one of those gauges has to be brought up separately by the person using the system. So, yes, we can definitely improve it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think at the moment we need to work out what is possible ... we have a pretty good idea how we could do everything better. But we haven't actually specifically asked [Government for funding]. There are projects underway which will address this."

Following the earthquake that struck the top of the South Island and tsunami threat, Gledhill used a blog post to reiterate the need for a 24/7 monitoring centre.

He said the existing situation was "not ideal" because "we have to wake people and get them out of bed to look at complex data and make serious calls very quickly".

A full-time monitoring system would require eight more staff and some technological upgrades, and would take three years to set up, he said.

Discover more

New Zealand

Probability of 7+ quake this month: 27%

17 Nov 01:09 AM
Opinion

Wave goodbye to your tsunami alert

17 Nov 04:00 PM
New Zealand|politics

Tsunami warnings: Shakeup on the cards

17 Nov 07:12 AM
New Zealand

M5.0 aftershock hits near Kaikoura

20 Nov 12:59 AM

Brownlee has said a change to the monitoring system is possible, saying he wanted to discuss the matter with GNS Science.

"The question will be for GNS...how they think they should structure for the future. We will obviously talk to them about that. But I think simply...saying it has got to be 24/7, the question is, what would be the difference the other day?" Brownlee said on TVNZ's Q&A programme.

"Because if you look at [what international centres are saying] they are all saying, actually, this was a really interesting event, multiple faults rupturing at one time, very, very difficult to get a handle exactly on what was happening."

Labour leader Andrew Little has backed the call for an upgraded monitoring system, and said Brownlee shouldn't be "precious" about Gledhill's comments.

"He is talking about a very topical issue, which is that we are a country prone to earthquakes and yet the monitoring of that seems to be on a workday, business hours basis.

"However sensitive Gerry Brownlee might feel about a public servant speaking out, the reality is there is an issue there that has been highlighted."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Little said he believed Geonet would need at least two control centres, in case one was itself affected by a natural disaster.

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said a broader inquiry into New Zealand's resilience to natural disasters was needed.

In a speech in Katikati yesterday, he called for a cross-party support for an inquiry which would look at everything from construction and infrastructure standards to the adequacy of emergency response services.

"The most recent serious earthquake directly impacted small towns and a relatively sparsely populated area of the country,' Peters said.

"The next major earthquake could hit a major population centre as happened with the Christchurch earthquakes."

Shortly after the magnitude 7.8 earthquake early on Monday morning, GeoNet's first computer estimate was magnitude 6.5. After the duty officer arrived and reviewed data the magnitude was revised to 6.6.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Just over half an hour after the earthquake Civil Defence tweeted that there was no tsunami threat, but 20 minutes later tweeted that a tsunami was possible.

Gledhill said today that there were always lessons to learn after such events, but "it was actually responded to incredibly quickly by our duty person and the processes were followed really well".

"The tsunami turned out to be a surprise, and it wasn't a surprise just for us - my international colleagues, who I obviously talk to, they had the same issue.

"Large, on-land earthquakes do not usually cause tsunamis. We did not know that it had gone offshore, that was a big factor ... I don't think with the current setup we could really have done much better."

Gledhill stressed again that even the best monitoring centre might not have been quick enough for many coastal communities, and the best advice was that if you live near the ocean and feel a strong earthquake, head for higher ground immediately.

Other updates from today's briefing include:

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Brigadier John Boswell from the NZ Defence Force said they had identified 36 points along the inland road to Kaikoura that were of concern, with three proving "very difficult" to negotiate.

The road remains closed to the public. On Friday a 27-truck NZDF convoy got through. Another smaller convoy was on the road currently.

"As an indication of just how slow and difficult it is, it is taking them three hours to travel the first 60km. So they are moving at about 20km an hour. There are some real issues with that road."

Boswell said the NZDF hopes to use the inland road as the main way to get supplies and support to Kaikoura, but the HMNZS Canterbury was being kept at Lyttelton on standby, having delivered 190 evacuees to the port overnight.

We welcome our international friends to Wellington this morning! pic.twitter.com/xBbOTXx22w

— NZ Defence Force (@NZDefenceForce) November 19, 2016

The USS Sampson and other warships from Canada, Australia and New Zealand have travelled up the coast and will be in Wellington harbour for most of today, before going on to Auckland to join the New Zealand Navy's 75th birthday celebrations.

"It's an opportunity for the US Secretary of Navy and Ambassador [Mark Gilbert], the Acting Prime Minister and senior defence officials to thank those ships for the considerable support they have provided.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That was absolutely critical. We would have struggled to unload Canterbury as quickly as we did without the efforts of those four ships."

• Dr Stewart Jessamine from the Ministry of Health said boil water notices were still in place in earthquake-affected areas, and there was always a risk of gastroenteritis disease.

There had been about six reports in the past week of gastroenteritis disease, but these were contained and there was no outbreak, Jessamine said.

"The last one started about two or three days ago. All the patients are well, we've got no evidence of it being transmitted within the community."

The Ministry of Health was aware of people taking raw milk from farms that would otherwise have to throw the milk away.

"Our only advice in that space is ... there is always a risk that that might be infected as well with bacteria from the cows. So if you are going to drink it, boil it up to 70 degrees for a minute."The experience with the Canterbury earthquakes made it clear that after the initial response, attention would need to turn to mental health issues.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

Kāinga Ora appears not to care about mistreated dogs - neighbour

13 May 09:57 AM
New Zealand|crime

'Investigation cannot be compromised': Top cop accepts McSkimming resignation 'raises questions'

13 May 08:12 AM
New Zealand

'Truly amazing': Schick family launches fundraiser for emergency services after tragedy

13 May 08:07 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Kāinga Ora appears not to care about mistreated dogs - neighbour

Kāinga Ora appears not to care about mistreated dogs - neighbour

13 May 09:57 AM

Three dogs in Bucklands Beach were seized and euthanised because of neglect.

'Investigation cannot be compromised': Top cop accepts McSkimming resignation 'raises questions'

'Investigation cannot be compromised': Top cop accepts McSkimming resignation 'raises questions'

13 May 08:12 AM
'Truly amazing': Schick family launches fundraiser for emergency services after tragedy

'Truly amazing': Schick family launches fundraiser for emergency services after tragedy

13 May 08:07 AM
'You need help': Judge urges man to stop drinking after 13th drink-driving conviction

'You need help': Judge urges man to stop drinking after 13th drink-driving conviction

13 May 08:00 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP