A deep breath, and on same page again

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

An unusual bout of public acrimony and discord among our district leaders in the trying aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle has been patched over with the signing this week of a “Tairāwhiti Statement of Unity” and approval for a unified Tairāwhiti recovery plan.

It is telling that the first principle of the unity statement from the four mandated iwi organisations, Gisborne District Council, Trust Tairāwhiti and Eastland Group is, “Respect for the roles and responsibilities of each entity and the people they represent” — and that respect and consideration among the entities are key elements of the three other principles as well.

Clearly the protagonists in previous disunity have swallowed a strong dose of reality in the best interests of those they represent and the region. For that they should all be thanked, as Tairāwhiti is in a bad way after the cyclones and other damaging weather events, and we are very obviously much stronger when our leaders work together for common goals.

Te Karaka advocate and sometimes stern council critic Willie Te Aho puts it well when he describes how this development went down at the Te Aitanga a Mahaki annual meeting on Thursday night: “It would be fair to say that our people were amazed and some even shocked. But everyone agreed this unified approach to recovery in Tairāwhiti is critical as our region strives towards achieving a resilient, safe, connected and protected Tairāwhiti.”

It is noteworthy also that the organisations signing up to the unity statement are the same — minus Te Whatu Ora Health NZ — that used to be represented around the table at Rau Tipu Rau Ora, the partnership group set up in 2020 to lead the development then implementation of the Tairāwhiti Covid-19 Pandemic Response and Recovery Plan . . . which the council pulled out of less than a month after Cyclone Gabrielle, disappointing three of the four iwi leaders who said it was best placed to manage the recovery from Cyclones Hale and Gabrielle.

Don’t expect them all to be sitting around, holding hands and singing Kumbaya — there isn’t time for that anyway, and there is clear intent to get cracking on regional recovery and rebuilding with as fulsome backing from central government as possible.

A unified Tairāwhiti recovery plan was submitted to the Government yesterday (we are yet to learn how it differs from the plan submitted by the council early last month seeking central government support north of $1 billion) and the collective of seven chief executives will meet next week with its Cyclone Recovery Unit to discuss next steps. They will push for confirmation of the level of government investment in the region’s recovery next month, and the signing of relevant contracts in September.