Over 400 people across the Wellington region put their training into practise during Exercise Mahuika and Exercise Whero!
 
The region’s nine councils participated alongside members of Wellington Region Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Group, including representatives from Fire and Emergency NZ, NZ Police, New Zealand Defence Force, NZ Response Teams, Ministry of Social Development (MSD), Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, Electra, Wellington Water, WorkSafe New Zealand, National Emergency Management Agency (NZ) , Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade. 
 
Council staff activated their Emergency Operations Centres in response to either a large wildfire or wide-spread severe weather event. As part of the exercise, staff and a number of welfare organisations were tasked with establishing a local Emergency Assistance Centre.
 
As a CDEM Group we regularly conduct exercises to enable council staff and partner agencies to come together to build our collective capability.