East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick says Budget shows commitment to cyclone recovery

Dana Kirkpatrick, National Party MP for East Coast.

East Coast MP Dana Kirkpatrick says yesterday’s Budget shows a continued commitment to and investment in transport and cyclone recovery that will help Tairāwhiti get back on its feet.

“It will be a multi-year recovery process,” she said.

“$1 billion has been allocated across the country but the initiatives for our region will make a considerable difference.

“We know people have been hurting in the regions, but those in cyclone-devastated areas are particularly doing it hard and this is some comfort to us getting the clean-up completed, getting our roads fixed and making sure our economy can function - which will drive jobs, income and resilience.”

Local Budget funding includes $221 million to the Gisborne District Council for the cost of the Crown’s buyout of Category 3 (unsafe to live in) residential properties and $27m for the treatment of woody debris.

That takes the total government funding to remove woody debris and sediment to $110.8m.

Other recovery funding includes:

• $609m over three years to complete state highway recovery works in areas affected by the North Island extreme weather events of 2023;
• $330m over 2023/24 and 2024/25 to continue the response and recovery work on local roads that were affected by the events;
• $28m of further funding for the Temporary Accommodation Service (TAS) to support households that are still displaced by Cyclone Gabrielle and the January 2023 Auckland floods;
• $20m for one year to support councils’ capability to speed up critical recovery functions including voluntary buyouts, flood protection works, landslip remediation and local transport. This includes $16m allocated as part of Budget 24 and $4m from the remaining Local Government Flood Resilience Fund;
• A tagged contingency to support the implementation of the Category 3 whenua Māori and marae pathway.

The Budget also includes tax cuts, rebates for early childhood education fees, tax cuts for landlords, $3.44 billion for hospital and specialist services through Health New Zealand, $2.12b for primary, community and public health through Health New Zealand and $220m to train 500 new police by the end of next year.

Kirkpatrick said the Budget was a practical and prudent approach to spending taxpayers’ money.

“We are giving them more in their pay packet each week with tax relief, we are saving them money in their early childhood education costs, we are investing in health, education and reducing crime – and these are all the things people told us they wanted done.”