Budget brings more cyclone recovery funding to Hawke's Bay

Kieran McAnulty with Anna Lorck meeting Omarunui Road growers Danny Bearsley and Paula Bearsley. Photo / Patrick O'Sullivan

Last week’s Budget 2023 is another step forward in enabling Te-Matau-a-Māui Hawke’s Bay to deliver a recovery that is locally led, regionally coordinated and government supported, say Hawke’s Bay’s leaders.

Minister of Finance and Minister for Cyclone Recovery, Grant Robertson, confirmed the Government will set aside $6 billion for delivery of the National Resilience Plan, enabling the rebuilding of infrastructure destroyed across the country by February’s severe weather events. This funding is in addition to the $941 million for the previously announced Cyclone Recovery Package.

Alex Walker, mayor of Central Hawke’s Bay District and co-chair of Te Matau a Māui Hawke’s Bay Matariki Governance Group, says while the Budget announcement was welcome, further detail was still required.

“It is pleasing to see central Government funding committed to regions like Hawke’s Bay which are still heavily focused on rebuild and recovery following the devastating impact of recent weather events across Aotearoa New Zealand.

“Initial assessments have indicated that Hawke’s Bay will require $1.374 billion to deliver the most immediate recovery priorities for this year alone. While the confirmed funding through Budget 2023 is a step in the right direction, there is still a lot more information and detail required about the funding Hawke’s Bay communities will receive, and how that funding will be allocated across the recovery needs and priorities for the region.

“As we’ve always said, the transition from immediate response toward meaningful, long-term recovery is going to require investment far greater than anything the region has seen before, and we will continue to advocate for this investment for the people of Hawke’s Bay.”

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council chairwoman Hinewai Ormsby, said one of the highest priorities for the region was the restoration of the region’s flood protection systems.

“We need whanau most impacted by this cyclone to feel safe in their homes, and we know we need to invest in some major upgrades to our region’s flood protection systems if we’re going to deliver on that.

“We absolutely need investment from central Government, and while the previously committed $100 million of flood protection funding for Aotearoa New Zealand is welcome, this is significantly less than we need as a region if we’re going to build greater resilience into our flood protection schemes over the many years ahead.”

Minister for Rural Communities and Emergency Management and MP for Wairarapa Kieran McAnulty said a top-up of funding for emergency repairs to the transport networks of $60.7 million in 2023/24 will ensure that rural communities are less likely to be isolated after an extreme weather event.

“Rural communities are at risk from being severely impacted by extreme weather events, it’s so crucial that emergency services have road access through to remote communities,” McAnulty said.

“The additional funding for emergency works announced last week will ensure that Waka Kotahi can continue to respond rapidly to extreme weather and repair the roads for rural communities as quickly as possible,” he said.

Budget 2023 also funds between 600 and 1000 EV chargers in smaller rural communities with $30 million approved for this purpose out of a total of $120 million from a broader electric vehicle charging initiative.

“With increased charging infrastructure, rural communities will be able to harness the benefits of EVs as urban centres are able to and bring visitors to their region.

“We don’t want charging to be a barrier in rural communities for adapting to EVs, this funding will ensure more Kiwis are able to make the switch to an EV,” McAnulty said.

Education in rural communities will also receive a boost with 175 schools added to the Ngā Iti Kahurangi programme which upgrades small, isolated schools’ properties with $63.1 million.

“Rural schools face different property challenges from central city schools, such as the cost of building contractors as the requirement to travel significant distances is often unattractive to contractors and invokes significant expense on the part of the school,” McAnulty said.

The programme helps rural schools improve lighting, noise, temperature and energy efficiency. Improvements include LEDs, acoustic panels and thermal insulation in ceilings. The programme also installs residual current devices and support state primary schools to update their asbestos management plans.

“The programme helps rural schools meet Government’s 2030 target school standards, but also creates the best environment for children to learn in.

“Teachers in rural locations play such a crucial part in their community. The school is often the heart of the community and I’m glad we are able to help those schools create the best physical environment possible for their children through Budget 2023,” McAnulty said.

“While this Budget isn’t a package that says ‘farmers’ I believe it has good news for everybody. We want to support people with the cost of living and get inflation down. I think it’s a clever budget that targets the right areas.”