New Zealand’s various fire service groups are to be brought into a unified national structure – but funding will still be mainly through a levy on insurance premiums.

Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand CEO Gary Young says plans unveiled last week by the Government will make the Fire Service and its funding formula “even more complex than it is at present”.

Under plans revealed by Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne, legislation will be introduced next year and a unified structure will be in place by mid-2017.

“New Zealand’s fire services – urban and rural – are distinct, in that more than 80% of our firefighters are volunteers,” he said. “That is not about to change. 

“Alongside maintaining the position of our paid firefighters, ensuring the future viability of the volunteer force is critical to the future of the Fire Service.

He says the unified service “needs to be bolstered by a strong regional influence, provided through a series of regional advisory committees”.

Mr Dunne says there has been no decision made on how the new service will be funded, but it will be “similar to the current insurance levy model”.

The Insurance Council of New Zealand says the options studied by the Government have ignored the fairest funding model – general taxation.

Mr Young told insuranceNEWS.com.au discussions with the Government last week revealed that changes planned for the insurance levy that provides most of the service’s funding – most recently set at $NZ340 million ($307.45 million) – “create a real danger they will make it even more complex than it already is”.

At present the levy is calculated around fire cover, but Mr Young says the Government is examining whether to move the levy calculation to material damage, which includes fire cover.

There is also discussion about the relative merits of calculating the levy on the sum insured or the value of assets.

“The industry doesn’t know the value of assets, just the sum insured,” Mr Young said. “The models they’re looking at simply aren’t based on reality.”