The New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office’s response to the 2016 Kaikōura earthquakes: A case study

Abstract

This case study describes how New Zealand’s Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) continued to operate at a predefined level under difficult circumstances in 2016, following a major earthquake. It shows how a large seismic event in one part of New Zealand physically impacted its capital city, Wellington, located on another island. Operating from one of the safest and most secure buildings in Wellington, the PCO was completing extensive renovations at the time of the earthquake. Although this raised the disruption level up several notches, it could not be allowed to affect the service it provided to the government. The PCO was flexible in finding solutions to problems created by not having full access to its usual resources for over a week. The technology performed as it should, and key staff across the organisation knew what needed to be done and when it had to be done, with or without reference to the business continuity plans. Despite a successful outcome, certain issues were identified post-incident that needed working on. These issues related to communication between those managing the incident. The lesson here was to make way for people as well as procedure by having (and using) a suitable and robust communications plan. Loss of resources was exacerbated because of the event’s timing. Through goodwill and a bit of luck, the PCO was provided with crucial resources by two nearby government entities.