An MP has told a group of parliamentarians that Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) has been offering "platitudes" instead of fire trucks.

Ōtaki MP Tim Costley said he had heard too many empty promises from the agency about paperwork and process. "We don't need more paper, we need more firetrucks," he said RNZ.

A select committee is a small group of MPs from different parties who look into an issue together over time. Think of it like a working group that can call in officials and ask for documents. This inquiry is looking at why FENZ has been slow to replace its fire trucks.

FENZ appeared before the inquiry on a Monday, represented by commanders Kerry Gregory and Megan Stiffler.

At the centre of the problem are 30 medium-sized fire trucks that are still not on the road after years of delays. Costley raised questions about how the company that builds those trucks was chosen. He also asked about FENZ's larger aerial trucks — the long-ladder vehicles used for high-rise buildings and complex fires.

On the aerials, Costley questioned why FENZ reports had said five new aerial trucks had finished "final" testing in mid-2025, when the trucks were actually still being tested. Stiffler told the committee that problems with the aerial trucks were found last November during pre-operating checks RNZ.

As of the hearing, two of the five aerials were still in Brisbane being worked on. Three were in New Zealand.

FENZ told the committee it had decided on a new five-year plan because fire truck technology is changing quickly. The agency also said its operational needs are shifting, which makes it harder to choose the right trucks. FENZ acknowledged it was improving how it buys trucks, telling the committee those processes had not been good enough RNZ.

Politicians from more than one party have been putting pressure on FENZ over its trucks. Chris Bishop, a senior government minister, posted on his official Facebook page in April praising Costley's scrutiny and saying he was "v-concerned about the performance of FENZ." Bishop also shared a link to a parliamentary petition about FENZ Facebook.

The firefighters' union has also kept the issue in the public eye. The New Zealand Professional Firefighters' Union posted on Instagram in November that the Government was pressed in Parliament on whether it still had confidence in FENZ Instagram. In June, the union noted on Facebook that Labour MP Tangi Utikere had mentioned fire trucks being built to replace old ones in 2025–2026 during a parliamentary sitting held under urgency Facebook.

David Seymour, as Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, told Parliament in November that FENZ inherited a faulty logging and tracking system from 2017 Hansard.

The select committee gives MPs a chance to dig into FENZ's truck-buying problems over multiple hearings, with documents and officials — something they cannot do in the short bursts of question time in Parliament.

The broader picture is that FENZ faces two challenges. It must explain why 30 medium trucks and five aerials remain undelivered, and it must convince the committee that its new five-year plan and improved buying processes will fix the problems rather than just adding more bureaucracy. Costley's argument — that the agency keeps producing documents instead of trucks — will likely strike a chord with firefighters and communities waiting for new appliances.

The inquiry also reflects a wider political picture: a National backbench MP pushing for answers from a government agency, backed publicly by a senior Cabinet minister, with support from Labour and an active union. FENZ's appearance before the committee is unlikely to be its last.