Lions tour safety plans a concern after bombing

Concerns about terrorism and New Zealand’s resilience in the face of natural disasters have sparked calls for better planning ahead of next month’s British and Irish Lions rugby tour.

Questions were raised recently about how New Zealand’s ‘‘chain of command’’ and communications function in disasters, and a range of senior officials have met recently to discuss security issues.

With the Manchester terrorist attack fresh on people’s minds, a cross-party group of MPs will also meet next week to discuss civil defence preparedness.

Labour’s civil defence spokeswoman Clare Curran said debacles with tsunami warnings last year and the Christchurch fires in February showed it was important to address any issues before the series kicked off on June 3 in Whangarei.

‘‘It was chaotic – I think everybody acknowledges that. In the Christchurch fires, it was really about which organisation was in charge.

‘‘If there’s another kind of incident involving Civil Defence but that may be generated through terrorism or some other event ... have they got their act together with these sorts of events as well?’’

Up to 30,000 Lions fans are expected to visit for the tour.

Curran said it was important to avoid cases ‘‘where hours can go by without the bigger picture being taken into account and people just taking responsibility for their own little patch’’.

Superintendent Sandra Manderson, the police national commander for major sporting events, said officials were frequently ‘‘assessing and updating’’ event management plans.

Among other things, this meant ‘‘anticipating all events and risks which could impact on the tournament, both natural and manmade’’, Manderson said.

‘‘This includes consideration of the tragic events in Manchester and other incidents like it to help inform our planning.’’

Officers from outside host cities could also be brought in to help.

Police were working with New Zealand Rugby, the British High Commission, Lions management, Customs officials and the New Zealand Transport Agency.

The rugby tour wraps up with the third test at Auckland’s Eden Park on July 8.