Cyclone Gabrielle: Government relief package for horticulture reliant on generosity of banks

Kieran McAnulty (right) explained the Government's cyclone relief package to growers on Thursday. Photo / Warren Buckland

Growers and the Government are now waiting to see whether banks will help make a new cyclone relief package a reality.

Minister for Emergency Management Kieran McAnulty announced a loan scheme for the horticultural and agricultural industries, near Napier on Thursday.

It aims to provide $240 million in finance, underwriting loans up to $10m.

McAnulty said the package was developed with primary producers and would provide relief to key growers, farmers and businesses, and help their regions continue to recover.

But it is a far cry from the $750m grant the Hawke’s Bay Horticultural Growers’ Taskforce had been asking for.

That $750m was half of the forecast $1.5 billion bill it will take to clean up and rebuild orchards. The figure of $1.5b was based on economic impact reports compiled by the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Boston Consulting Group.

Now, almost three months after the Growers’ Taskforce presented those figures to the Government, a three-tiered bank loan scheme has been offered up instead.

Precisely what assistance growers can get, via their banks and the Government’s pledge to underwrite loans to a capped amount, remains to be seen.

“We can’t give you an exact number on that until we know exactly how many banks are willing to take part, because they are a key stakeholder in this,” McAnulty said.

“We can’t make them do it. We want them to do it and the conversations we’ve had have been incredibly promising.

Hawke's Bay Fruitgrowers' Association president Brydon Nisbet was among the many growers impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Warren Buckland

“I expect you’ll be hearing from the banks very shortly that they’re taking part. But, until we know exactly how many are, we can’t put a final figure on that.”

That was not music to the ears of Hawke’s Bay Fruitgrowers’ Association president - and Growers’ Taskforce member - Brydon Nisbet.

“It was probably what we expected, but there’s going to be some disappointed growers out there,” Nisbet said.

“Even just the speed of it. Jeez, it would have been nice to know this a few months ago.”

McAnulty said six relief options had been on the table, three of which have now been put forward.

That is a loan guarantee scheme, a concessionary loan and equity scheme, and a primary producer finance scheme.

The Growers’ Taskforce first met with Government ministers in February, to express the urgency of a relief package. They submitted their financial forecast and funding request in April, met with ministers again in May, and now wonder why it took so long to be told no lump sum was coming.

“I would have liked to have seen a mixture of the grants and the loans and the Government [to] say ‘hey, we know there’s been a catastrophic failure of the stopbanks that were there to protect you. We acknowledge that and want to give you affected growers so much per hectare as a kick start. For the rest, you’ll need to get a loan’,” said Nisbet.

But at least growers now have certainty.

“For a lot of growers, this is their option and they’ll run with it. They’ve been told there’s no grants and they’ll get on with it,” Nisbet said.

“For other growers, they’ll be disappointed. It’s not what we wanted, it’s not what we presented to the Government three months ago, and there will be some growers that don’t want to get back into debt.

“Because, in the end, you’re still getting back into debt, you’re still rebuilding something that collapsed that wasn’t your fault.

“The positive is that there’s finally a decision, but it should have been done earlier.”

Nisbet said some growers still haven’t removed the silt from their properties, because they didn’t have the available funds and hoped a grant would be forthcoming.

It will “now be up to each individual property to decide” if they take advantage of the loan scheme and spend big money to help rebuild their own businesses and the wider industry.

“It’s going to take a while but, for the sake of Hawke’s Bay, it needs to [happen],” said Nisbet.

Hamish Bidwell joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2022 and works out of the Hastings newsroom.