They gave a poop about whether politicians were actually doing something other than talking.
Follow live updates of Cyclone Gabrielle here.
Almost any natural disaster will render the Opposition irrelevant – unless the Government bungles the handling of the disaster.
Even then, the Opposition won’t necessarily be thanked for wading in to critique it instead of being constructive - at least while the emergency is under way.
As yet, the Government has shown no sign of bungling it. So far Hipkins and Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty have been all over it.
The early part of that job is partly simply reassurance. But it will have to get through the immediate problem of dealing with thousands of people without a home, without a business, with farms and orchards trashed – or isolated by road slips and bridge damage.
Insurance will cover some of that – but there will be a massive bill for infrastructure, in particular, that the Government cannot avoid.
That in turn could have ramifications for its other plans – and Hipkins’ policy bonfire. It could also face renewed criticism for spending the leftovers of the Covid-19 fund on things rather than keeping it for a future emergency.
But one lesson Hipkins learned from Covid-19 is how quickly people can turn to anger once the shock and coping of the initial emergency is over. So Finance Minister Grant Robertson has quickly said there was no doubt the Government would have to step up, and the need and cost would be assessed over coming weeks.
The early attention was on Auckland because of last week’s flooding – but the hardest impact was on the regions around it this time.
McAnulty – who is also Minister for Rural Communities - was well aware those in the regions might be concerned that the attention and resources would all go on the bigger population base of Auckland.
At one point, he gave an assurance that they would be a priority as well.
Hipkins is also showing he’s learned a thing or two about crisis management - and how people respond to them - from the Covid-19 response. These are both political and practical.
The political aspects come in the role of a PM in a time of disaster.
Former PM Jacinda Ardern was criticised during the long months of Auckland’s 2021 lockdown for not going to the city to see and hear first-hand what it was like living through it.
So confronted with his first disasters as PM – the flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle - Hipkins turned up for them. He did not dilly around wondering if he would be in the way or if he should wait a bit.
National’s leader Christopher Luxon had gone down to Parliament early to ensure he was not stuck in Auckland and would be there when the Parliamentary year opened.
Hipkins did the opposite, heading to Auckland on Saturday knowing he risked being stuck there for some days.
It was not just for optics of being a hands-on Prime Minister.
The practical lessons from Covid-19 were in play. Hipkins learned a thing or two about how to manage the sprawling beast that is a crisis response: keeping a close eye on the response of the public sector (from transport to health), of being on-hand to make quick decisions, and how to chivvy officialdom along if needed.
He also learned the importance of being able to work well with the other groups involved – in this case Auckland Council. All of that is more easily done if you are in the room with them.
Fortunately for its own fortunes, National’s pique about the start of Parliament didn’t last long – perhaps because a vast number of its own MPs were stuck in the upper North Island too and would have wanted to stay in their electorates at such a time anyway.
It agreed to the adjournment of Parliament after the national state of emergency was called.
Luxon started to talk about the reconstruction ahead and the longer-term problem the extreme weather highlighted: climate change.
He said there was a need for a multi-decade approach to climate change adaptation regarding key infrastructure, and pledged he would take a bipartisan approach to that.
It made a welcome change from earlier in the week. Luxon’s unhappiness might be understandable. He has been starved of oxygen since the moment former PM Jacinda Ardern said “I will not stand for re-election”.
That was as unpreventable as Cyclone Gabrielle, which has continued to starve him of oxygen.
That oxygen will return – Luxon has little choice but to ride it out.
The cyclone is already highlighting issues that should have been dealt with by the government – and by governments before it: Tairawhiti residents have been calling for something to be done about slash from forestry for years now. Yet nothing has been done. Lo, the slash came down again and farms were hammered again.
The debate about the tough measures in the climate change programme has also begun – such as managed retreat.
