Legislation to bring New Zealand’s trusted weather forecasting agencies together has passed its first reading in Parliament.
The Meteorological Services (Acquisition and Policies) Legislation Amendment Bill will enable Earth Sciences New Zealand to formally acquire MetService, bringing together New Zealand’s key meteorological and climate expertise and infrastructure.
“It also aims to remove the fragmentation that occurs through having two government-owned companies in weather forecasting,” said State Owned Enterprises Minister, Simeon Brown.
The Meteorological Services (Acquisition and Policies) Legislation Amendment Bill makes some technical changes to allow Earth Sciences NZ to take on MetService, including:
- Removing MetService from the State-Owned Enterprises Act 1986.
- Amending the Crown Research Institutes Act 1992 to require Earth Sciences NZ to publish its observational weather data access policy.
- Exempting the acquisition from Part 3 of the Commerce Act 1986 (Commerce Act) on public policy grounds, on the basis that the public benefits of integration outweigh any theoretical competition concerns. The Commerce Act will, however, continue to apply as normal post-acquisition.
“New Zealanders will continue to see MetService’s known and trusted brand reporting on the weather and MetService will remain the country’s internationally authorised meteorologist. This will ensure both continuity and a single, authorised voice for public safety messaging in times of severe weather,” Mr Brown says.
“Bringing MetService and Earth Sciences New Zealand together means more Kiwis will be able to access clearer insights into our climate, more accurate long-term weather forecasting and faster warnings.
“Our scientists will be able to better collaborate and gain access to more infrastructure to collect and analyse weather data – from a broader network of weather stations to Earth Sciences’ new supercomputer,” he said.
