The Government has promised a Cyclone Gabrielle emergency package of $250 million for roads and $50 million for businesses, while extending the national state of emergency for another seven days and creating a cyclone recovery taskforce.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has also rejected claims of increased looting and disorder in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, saying “police are not seeing any evidence to suggest there’s a level of lawlessness”.
Hipkins announced the national state of emergency would be extended for another seven days at a post-cabinet press conference in Wellington this afternoon.
He told reporters that a lead minister would be appointed for each of the affected regions, tasked with reporting back on the local recovery approach for their regions.
A cyclone recovery taskforce, structured similarly to Queensland’s floods taskforce, would be headed by Sir Brian Roche.
A new cabinet committee - including the regional ministers - would be formed.
Finance Minister Grant Robertson will be the new Cyclone Recovery Minister.
Robertson said Cabinet had agreed to $50 million for support to businesses, workers and the primary sector.
On the transport front, he said the damage to roads has been “massive.” $250 million would be put into the emergency works budget of Waka Kotahi NZTA to use on both local roads and state highways.
“Transport links are essential.”
On the $250 million for the roading emergency fund, Robertson said “this is just the beginning. There is a massive amount of work required over the next weeks and years.”
About 400km of the roading network were currently undergoing urgent repairs in Tairāwhiti, Hawke’s Bay and central North Island.
He said the stocktake would be done on which roads could be rebuilt and which could not - but urgent remedial work was needed for the key routes, so the initial funding injection was decided on now.
Robertson said a wage subsidy would be considered among the longer-term decisions - this was for immediate support.
He said no decisions had been made on whether changes would be required to cover the cost, such as tax changes, but when he put the Budget together, he would have to consider both revenue and spending.
On immigration, Hipkins said a special rebuild visa was one of the options being considered to try to get the labour in for the rebuild.
There was significant pressure on housing for those displaced as places they would normally use for emergency accommodation were also full, because of other events in Auckland.
Hipkins said it was too early to speculate on whether Esk Valley would be habitable in the future.
He was getting a daily report on law and order from the police.
“There is a heightened sense of stress, but police are not reporting an increase in crime over and above what they would normally be dealing with.”
It was “just wrong” to suggest that crime had increased and such claims should not be amplified.
Hipkins said about 140 more police had been flown into the region to help with law and order.
“Police are not seeing any evidence to suggest there’s a level of lawlessness. That’s not to say people are not feeling anxious. I don’t think people should play to that fear. Police do have this under control.”
On calls to bring in the army to help police, Hipkins said there was a threshold before that could be done and it was not at that point.
“There is no general lawlessness.”
He again took a swipe at the “rumour mill” and urged people to have faith in the police.
He said if people were setting up checkpoints, they should be doing it in conjunction with the police.
He said people filming and taking photos of damaged areas could be “disaster tourism” rather than criminals scoping out places to burgle.
“I’m dealing with the factual information provided by police. And while tensions are high .. the level of crime is not unusually high and not beyond they level they can deal with it.”
Earlier Hipkins said more than 6000 people were uncontactable after Cyclone Gabrielle but 4260 of those were OK.
About 15,000 were still without power in North Island, about 70 percent in Napier and surrounding areas.
