The first national test of the government’s new emergency messaging system exposed a number of glitches. Declaring the 10-second test “successful”, Minister for Emergency Management Kristy McBain said the alert was transmitted by 94 per cent of the country’s mobile towers – above the 90 per cent benchmark set by the National Emergency Management Agency. “An emergency alert system is only as good as its weakest delivery point,” said Rich Atkinson, executive director at Airteam. Among those who did receive the alert, 23 per cent received no accompanying text message. “This is another tool in the toolbelt for emergency service agencies to have during a natural disaster.”