Chris Hipkins speaks to media on Hawke’s Bay visit
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins says Hawke’s Bay locals are justified in feeling nervous and angry after residents at a community meeting expressed safety fears after the devastation caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.
Hipkins also confirmed Police Commissioner Andrew Coster is investigating how incorrect information was supplied to Hipkins which led to the PM disputing now verified claims about Hawke’s Bay roadworkers being threatened with firearms.
Speaking to reporters this afternoon during his third trip to the region, Hipkins gave an update on the Cyclone Recovery Taskforce and appeared alongside taskforce chairman Sir Brian Roche and Civil Defence Emergency Management acting director Roger Ball.
Hipkins said he had met local growers today, saying they put their “heart and soul” into their businesses and it was something Kiwis elsewhere in the country should acknowledge.
“There’s a long road ahead for us,” Hipkins said, adding he was listening to people and wanted to get the region on its feet as fast as possible.
On the cyclone’s impact to food prices, Hipkins said it would depend on decisions about whether crops were written off and how many could be harvested.
Transport and access issues would also have an impact on prices, he said.
Hipkins said more Government support would be necessary but they wanted to do that transparently and fairly, and debating an overall cost wasn’t particularly helpful at this stage.
“We know that more Government support is going to be required ... it’ll cost how much it will cost,” he said of the recovery.
Last night, Hawke’s Bay residents packed out the Crab Farm Winery in Napier’s Bay View to share views on the level of looting since the cyclone hit and how they felt about the Government and police response.
Police Minister Stuart Nash, who is also the Napier MP, Napier Mayor Kirsten Wise, Hastings Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst and Police Eastern District Commander Superintendent Jeanette Park were among the 200 people at the public meeting.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with Paul Apatu - CEO of Apatu Farms - in Puketapu. Photo / Warren Buckland
Residents spoke of encountering intruders, RNZ reported.
One man said someone had been in the bedroom and living room in his home, and had shone a torch into the children’s room. Others said they felt unsafe over what appeared to be would-be looters scoping out their properties.
One resident was shaken to see motorcyclists videoing property outside his home, while a woman said it was disconcerting to see patched gang members walking up her street.
On last night’s meeting, Hipkins said feedback was being taken on board and the Police Commissioner was putting more resources into the region.
Hipkins said people had a right to feel nervous and angry as it was an “unjust situation”. He added those feelings of fear were justified and fair.
“When it comes to issues around safety for example, we have got the Commissioner of police putting extra resource into the region,” he said.
“I think people who find themselves in this position have a right to feel nervous, they have a right to feel anxious, they have a right to feel angry.
“I fully understand the level of emotion that’s out there at the moment.”
There were still 145 additional police officers in the Eastern District and Nash would be meeting with local police later today to assess needs, Hipkins said.
Last week, reports emerged of Hawke’s Bay roadworkers being presented with firearms, claims Hipkins initially disputed before apologising after they were verified, saying he had been given incorrect information by police.
It preceded comments from Nash after last night’s meeting who believed Police Commissioner Andrew Coster’s approach to reports of looting wasn’t appropriate.
“I also acknowledge that having the Police Commissioner coming out and saying, ‘What are you talking about, stats haven’t changed,’ is probably the wrong message to the people of Whirinaki and Bayview,” Nash told the Hawke’s Bay Today last night.
Police Commissioner Andrew Coster. Photo / File
Asked if he was losing confidence in Coster, Hipkins said: “Look, I’ve had a conversation with him this morning, [Coster has] expressed disappointment that the police gave me the wrong information and of course, I was disappointed they gave me the wrong information as well, although, as I always do, I’ll accept responsibility for my own comments and I made it clear I regret passing on that information”.
“It was incorrect and I think the key point now is taking on board the feedback that we’ve received from those communities.”
Hipkins then confirmed he was happy with the work Coster had done in the cyclone recovery; “but clearly the situation was far from ideal”.
Hipkins said Coster was investigating how incorrect information was passed on. Hipkins hadn’t yet been briefed on where the communication breakdown occurred but he said it was within police.
The police still have the ability to bring in more officers if they felt it’s needed, Hipkins said, when asked whether more Defence Force personnel should be brought in.
“It’s not just about photographs for the TV news at night,” Hipkins said of his trips to cyclone-impacted regions.
On his visit today, Hipkins said all of it would stay with him, particularly scenes of caravans and cars in trees after being tossed aside by the floodwaters.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with Labour Tukituki MP Anna Lorck at the Bridge Pa Aerodrome in Hastings. Photo / Warren Buckland
On his failed efforts to get to Wairoa, which have been hampered by poor weather, Hipkins promised he would keep trying to get to the northern Hawke’s Bay town.
Hipkins said the Defence Force had been working around the clock and acknowledged all equipment needed maintenance. It was a Defence Force helicopter that Hipkins was meant to travel to Wairoa in today but it could not be flown as it needed maintenance.
Hipkins said he was yet to look at the issue of refunding people who have paid for vital supplies and helicopter flights into rural communities but he would continue to look at the matter. Some private pilots are also filling the void of government airlifts to isolated communities.
He also stood by his decision to hold a Lotto draw as part of cyclone relief, saying getting the proceeds to cyclone-impacted people was a worthwhile endeavour.
Hipkins said the recovery was never going to be 100 per cent correct, citing issues with communication and how that impacted the response.
“I think we need to give people a bit of leeway for that ... I’m satisfied that I’ve given it my best go.”
Reports of looting emerged in the days following the cyclone and some communities including Puketapu, as revealed by the Herald, set up checkpoints on several access points using concrete blocks to deter looters.
Several roadblocks were put in place by members of the Puketapu community after reports of looting. Photo / Mark Mitchell
National police spokesman Mark Mitchell, speaking to Newstalk ZB this morning, was unforgiving in his assessment of Hipkins, calling him a “complete idiot” for doubting the roadworkers.
“People are very angry and they got up and they used examples of this in the meeting last night where they said, ‘Why do we get these central Government people out here beating their chest saying, look at what a great job we’re doing, when no one’s come to see us when we’ve had communications cut off, when we’ve had looting going on, when we don’t feel safe, we’re doing our own patrols and our own roadblocks that aren’t being supported and then we’re being told that everything’s fine and crime is reducing’, [the Government has] been completely tone deaf.”
Park, speaking to RNZ today, said some reports of looting had in fact been people in the region surveying the cyclone damage, something Hipkins had termed “disaster tourism”.
During his trip, Hipkins was set to visit impacted orchardists in the Puketapu area before meeting rescue helicopter pilots and attending a Ministry of Primary Industries meeting with local growers.
