Focus is on emergency needs, then resilience

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

GETTING basic connectivity and much-needed supplies to those isolated across Tairāwhiti is the main priority but there remain big questions about the resilience of the infrastructure, Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said in Gisborne yesterday.
After visiting Te Karaka Area School, where most in the flooded township had evacuated to, Prime Minister Hipkins met with the Gisborne District Council Civil Defence team and small businesses affected by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Flanked by East Coast MP Kiri Allan and Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty, he then spoke with media.
“I want to acknowledge the local community here. What we have seen today — it’s clearly a significant and traumatic event.
“The damage is extensive and we have been working to understand the impacts on the ground,” Mr Hipkins said.
“This sort of thing places communities under enormous pressure but what we have seen over the last few days is the best of New Zealand as communities have been coming together, supporting each other and helping in any way.
“One real pressure point is that people are finding it difficult to communicate with each other.
I absolutely acknowledge the pressure that puts on people. It’s something very real for families so we are working as fast as we can to get connectivity installed and put temporary measures in place like hotspots, so people can contact others.
“Water is clearly going to be an issue here.
We have had some conversations about that. We have temporary water supplies on route.
I have seen a convoy of trucks coming in with supplies.”
Mr Hipkins said it could be some time before broadband is restored. “What we are focused on is getting as much connectivity through Starlink as we can.
There may be some phone service in some areas.
“As a country we need to look at the resilience of our infrastructure and we need to do that with a much greater sense of urgency than we have before.
“It is going to be expensive and requires big calls by the Government to get things that need to happen, happening.
“We will simply have to find a way of doing it — no questions that we can’t keep going how we are going.
Minister Hipkins said there needed to be a rethink of the roadways. “We actually have to get real about some of the roads and move some to more appropriate areas.”
Asked about the Mana Taiao Tairāwhiti petition calling for an independent inquiry into land use in the region, that was handed to Gisborne District Council following Cyclone Hale, the PM said it would be going to Cabinet.
“I have heard the concerns and I want to reassure them that it’s a real and valid concern.”
He had not been up the East Coast as he had to get back to Wellington that afternoon.
Kiri Allan said one of the challenges was about prioritising who could get in and out on the East Coast. “We had had over-air looks at the challenges. Our Coasties are at the forefront of our mind,” she said.
Mr Hipkins was not sure on the number of Starlink receivers in New Zealand, and confirmed he had not been tweeting @ElonMusk to get more. “I haven’t been using any connectivity here.”