Pipiwharauroa

Meka Whaitiri

Tēnā tātou katoa. Sadly, I know it has been another tough and difficult month for all our whānau, businesses and communities in Tairāwhiti left with the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle just weeks after we suffered the devastation of Cyclone Hale.

Can I pay tribute to all our first responders and the army of volunteers who have been working around the clock over the past few weeks to help everyone in need, to clear the damage to roads, homes, and businesses, restore vital power, communications, and critical roads and transport. We can’t do it without your continued aroha and support. I acknowledge also, we still have a lot more work to do.

Mere Pōhatu

Building Back Better - Rural Thinking

As I write this, the sun is shining, and I’m connected and got power. In the last month we have felt Covid, we have watched Te Matatini, we have evacuated, become disconnected, we’ve made things up as disaster swirled around us.

All of our plans were in the past now. They were about getting water to our plants faster and protecting our productions. Our roads were about getting product to market. We haven't got a Plan B now that everything is wrecked. We never imagined so much rain that Papatuanuku could no longer absorb, sustain and protect us.

Government has paid for our safety in the aftermath. Rescued us, fed us and housed us - communities have sustained us. The media has reported. Some of us are now travelling different ways to get to our business centres and to do our business. Some of us say we have not been treated as fairly as others. Most of us, regardless, have experienced kindness and generosity of some kind. Some of us have lost everything from pets to panties. Many of us have lost our business and income. Lots of our kids have missed out on important lessons in our schools.

Thank you to all our community organisations, churches, marae, and iwi who mobilised so quickly, as we do, to support people and whānau who were severely impacted and displaced by the cyclone. Thank you for everything you are doing for our community, we see you.

With a State of Emergency still in place in Tairāwhiti it is clear the recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle will take some time, because of this the Government has already announced significant financial support including:

• An initial contribution of $1 million to the Tairāwhiti disaster relief fund

• An initial $4 million to help farmers, growers, whenua Māori owners and rural communities mobilise and co-ordinate recovery efforts from Cyclone Gabrielle.

• $25 million for growers and farmers to assist with clean up on orchard and farm, including up to $10,000 for pastoral and arable farmers to help with initial recovery, and up to $2,000 per hectare to remove silt from trees and vines, support clean-up and minimise future losses.

All of us are thinking about the three waters. Indeed all the waters. Some of us were in protest mode before Gabriella about the water. Now all of us are talking and planning about water. Every single one of us. I’m not going to leave the talk to the Fed Farmers, the Council or the iwi for that matter and, certainly, not policy wonks in Wellington or politicians wanting to sit on the government benches. They left me out last time. They need all of us now.

I’m looking to slow the water down and keep it close to where the rain falls. In the words of this guy called Giuld Boccaletti. Look him up. He’s an Oxford University research expert. After all, he says, it is land that ultimately absorbs carbon, accommodates renewable energy, protects us from floods and collects the water to manage droughts. Once again land is at the heart of the global economy.

I agree. However, I’m adding that people and better planning matter very much. We all have to manage our properties, understand where the water comes from and where it goes. Transforming our land use and our household behaviours requires us to add a new learning module or two to our tools. The foresters, farmers and even the iwi have to listen up now. Here is the approach to make great policy in Tairāwhiti. Start with self and whānau. But turn yourself into a policy maker - at once!

First, we need to become expert weather watchers. It's more than watching the weather people on TV News and getting annoyed because they speak Māori and pronounce our place names properly. No people, it's much more. It's about becoming our own inhouse weather experts. Watching. Noticing. Becoming seasonal. My personal weather forecaster is Hera Ngata-Gibson. I have just appointed her.

• $25 million available to businesses struggling with cashflow and in need of support. Trust Tairāwhiti will distribute the grants locally.

• $15 million short-term relief package to support Māori communities devastated by Cyclone Gabrielle and help accelerate their recovery.

The Prime Minister has been clear that these announcements are just the start and our Government will continue to do everything it can in the weeks and months ahead to help Tairāwhiti and other affected areas rebuild better, safer and smarter.

In the aftermath of Gabrielle we have much to celebrate. Congratulations Te Whānau Apanui and Whāngārā mai Tāwhiti for being placed first and second equal respectively in last week’s Te Matatini. To all our kapa and supporters who made the challenging decision to travel to Tamaki Makaurau, he mihi aroha ki a koutou. To Wi Pere Trust, recently announced finalist for the Ahuwhenua 2023 Horticulture Trophy, he mihi nunui ki a koutou, congratulations!

Second, we have to look inside, outside and around our own homes. If we end up on our own and isolated and surrounded by water with no power, comms or roads - how good is our own personal Whānau Civil Defence system?

Third, while we are at the height of the storm, apart from survival practices, we have to power up our observational skills. What’s happening? What happened? Where did that water go? Where did it even come from?

Fourth, and most importantly, as Nori Parata famously said, let's look at resolutions. We’ve done rescue, we talk about recovery. Governments generally pay for those two parts of disaster. But resolution and responsiveness needs us all having our say and playing our part.

Yes Pīpīwharauroa readers, the actual Pīpīwharauroa birds are leaving us as summer ends. They are flying back to the Pacific lslands. They’ll be back next summer. It is now oyster season and soon we will be harvesting Mutton Birds.

There are tough decisions to be made. I don't want any more government money to merely replace what we have lost. I don't want the same people grabbing and managing the resources that will come our way as we build back better.