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Hawke’s Bay fruit growers have told Prime Minister Chris Hipkins most of their crops are uninsured and the industry will need significant support to get back on its feet following Cyclone Gabrielle.
Hipkins visited the region today to see first-hand the impact the cyclone was having on growers.
When Hipkins asked local grower and Bostock NZ owner John Bostock about insurance coverage, Bostock claimed “this type of event” was non-insurable for orchard crops.
“Our machinery and our sheds are all insured, but crops for this type of event are non-insurable. We can insure for hail, but that is very expensive and most of us don’t.”
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with Paul Apatu of Apatu Farms in Puketapu. Photo / Warren Buckland
Other growers echoed that point and said it applied not just to apples, but other crops like kiwifruit, which were also non-insurable for this kind of disaster.
Bostock said across Hawke’s Bay, the extent of damage varied for growers.
“Some are really damaged and some are going to be okay, but the seriousness of this thing is just coming into realisation.”
Kiwifruit grower Ratahi Cross, from Ngāi Tukairangi Trust, said on a single 21-hectare site near Puketapu, they suffered $30 million in damages and losses from the floods.
“For some of us, quite often we will break down, because you are talking about generations of family who have worked these properties,” he said.
“It is not just yesterday’s farms - these are 100-year-old farms, multi-generational farms which mean so much to us.”
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins with Ratahi Cross. Photo / Warren Buckland
Hipkins said the damage he witnessed in the region was “on a very significant scale” and “there is a lot of work to do ahead”.
In terms of further funding, he said more Government support was required for growers, many of which “put their heart and soul into their annual growing”.
“We know more Government support is going to be required. We have to work carefully through what that looks like [and] how we are going to do that equitably and fairly and transparently.”
On the impact of food prices, Hipkins said that would depend on decisions about whether crops were written off and how many could be harvested.
Waima Fruit Company owner Mark Ericksen said all his apple and kiwifruit crops had “gone” as a result of the floods, and about 35 per cent of his orchard infrastructure had been destroyed.
He told Hipkins that growers needed support from the Government to recover.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins and Labour MP Anna Lorck talking to Mark Law at the Bridge Pā Aerodrome in Hastings. Photo / Warren Buckland
“Without that support, we don’t know where we are going to go and what we are going to do,” he said.
“Time is of the essence and we need the right packages and support.”
He said the Heretaunga Plains, around the Hastings district, were among the most fertile growing soil in the world.
“Without removal of that silt, we can’t grow anything [on the plains].”
Hipkins also visited Hastings Aerodrome to speak and thank pilots who have been helping flood-stricken communities.
Hawke’s Bay was the hardest-hit region in the country in terms of deaths and damage during Cyclone Gabrielle.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins speaks to media in Hastings. Photo / Warren Buckland
The month of March is meant to be a big one at orchards across the Bay, including when ripe apples are picked after a long season of preparation. The floods have meant that harvest has been ruined for many orchards.
Hipkins has now visited Hawke’s Bay on three occasions since the floods hit.
$50 million support package for businesses (including $25 million for farmers and growers);
Businesses impacted by the cyclone can apply for grants of up to $40,000 as part of that funding;
A Government fundraising appeal and special Lotto draw have been announced to raise money for flooded communities;
A council-operated Hawke’s Bay Disaster Relief Fund is also offering support of up to $1000 per impacted property, or $2000 for organisations, marae and community groups.
