In the red corner

There are people whose homes, whose businesses, and whose lives have been completely devastated by recent extreme weather events. We owe it to them to consider carefully both how much this is going to cost and how we pay for it.

As with the earthquakes in Christchurch and then Kaiko¯ura, the legacy of these events is going to be with us for many years to come. We know that more financial support will be required, but the Government is in a very strong position to contribute to that.

During the flooding, I stood in my local Civil Defence centre, watching a mum and her teenagers emerging from the dark carpark. I saw they were wet, cold, and had nothing with them. Even before any announcements, I knew we would help them through this tough time.

The Government has moved quickly to put in place a Cabinet committee and regional ministerial leads to help coordinate the central government response and recovery. The new extreme weather recovery committee will be chaired by Grant Robertson as minister for cyclone recovery, with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins, Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty and Barbara Edmonds also members.

An initial $50 million support package will support businesses, farmers and growers, and an extra $250m will help councils fix roads, get transport links back up and access into communities. The support will be ongoing, and the committee will help steer the work needed to get affected regions back up and running again.

We also know that how we recover has to be done a little bit differently this time. New Zealand is now without question experiencing the effects of climate change.

Extreme weather events are becoming more common and they are of greater intensity. In the year 2021-22, there was a ninefold increase in the amount of money required to help farmers and growers affected by floods, storms, and drought. Right now, the task ahead of New Zealand may seem daunting to many people.

There is a big challenge ahead of us all, but the cyclone and its aftermath won’t be with us forever.

We can rebound from this and continue to build a country of opportunity and energy.

We can navigate the global pandemic of inflation. We can invest in the skills, the innovation required to power up for the future.

We can build back better, we can build back safer, and we can build back smarter, and we will do that by working together.