Labour leader Chris Hipkins says he waited a week to visit Mount Maunganui after last week’s deadly landslide because he “didn’t want to get in the way”.
Thursday marked one week since the tragedies of January 22.
Six people are believed to have been buried underneath the 9.31am landslide at Mount Maunganui Beachside Holiday Park.
The victims were named as Lisa Anne Maclennan, 50; Mans Loke Bernhardsson, 20; Jacqualine Suzanne Wheeler, 71; Susan Doreen Knowles, 71; Sharon Maccanico, 15; and Max Furse-Kee, 15.
Two people died at a slip on Welcome Bay Rd, Austen Keith Richardson, 10, and Yao Fang, 71.
When asked why he waited a week to visit the site, Hipkins said he “didn’t want to get in the way”.
“Having been prime minister and sort of seen other disasters like this unfold, I think the most important thing that a lot of us politicians can do right at the beginning, if we’re not local, is just keep out of the way.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon spoke in Tauranga the day after the landslide, and met with the families of those impacted.
“I think the Prime Minister is different. I think it was absolutely right that he came up as soon as he could, because he’s got a job to do now,” Hipkins said.
He said that job was to make sure all resources were where they needed to be and to provide support to all those who were doing that work.
“I think us other politicians have to be a bit more careful. This isn’t a time for politicking.”
Hipkins arrived in Mount Maunganui around 11am on Thursday, on the one-week anniversary of the landslide.
He was unable to attend any vigils as flights “didn’t align”, but Labour MP Jan Tinetti would be attending Thursday night’s vigil at Coronation Park.
“We have been there to see the scale of the damage, to see what those responders are doing, the work that they are doing, the heart that they’re putting into it.”
He said it was “pretty overwhelming” to be there and see what had unfolded.
“Time and time again, we’re seeing one-in-100-year events happening regularly now, where it’s not one-in-100-years anymore; it’s yearly in some cases.”
Hipkins told the Bay of Plenty Times it was the same communities affected time and time again.
“We really do need to make sure we’re supporting those communities.
“Climate change is here. It’s real. It’s happening.”
In the return of politicians to Parliament on Tuesday, Hipkins offered his party’s full support for an inquiry into the events preceding the Mauao landslide.
He accompanied that offer with the remark that it was “the least we should be offering the victims”.
“It can get to the bottom of all of the relevant facts,” he told NZME, “including what actually happened here, how it happened, whether there were things that should have been picked up earlier in order in terms of prevention, whether there were warning signs that were missed.”
He said a full independent inquiry was important.
“All of those things can be covered by an independent review, and I think we owe it to everybody to get to the bottom of that.”
He said the $6 billion resilience fund was set up for issues around infrastructure that was too strained, too vulnerable or had significant risks.
“Whether it’s risks of flooding, risks of slips, the government must be involved in speeding up that work and getting that work done.”
He said this applied equally to areas that had been affected by significant events, like the Mount Maunganui landslide.
“The clean-up effort, the remediation effort, the rebuilding effort can actually be a significant boost for a community because it brings a lot of activity into a community.”
“You have to handle that very carefully and sensitively about the timing, in which you shift from recovery to really kind of rebuilding, but I think that is an opportunity.”
Hipkins said the resolve of those involved with the response in Mount Maunganui was “just awesome”.
“They’re working so hard with such dedication and such compassion for those whose lives have been affected and those who have lost their lives, and I have so much respect for what they are doing.”
When asked what he would have done differently to Luxon in these circumstances, Hipkins said he was being “very careful” not to make those kinds of judgements.
“I just don’t think that’s fair in these kinds of disaster scenarios. I think it’s really important that we do park politics at the door.”
Hipkins told the Bay of Plenty Times that when people were dealing with the loss of loved ones, the last thing they needed to see was politicians “bickering” with one another.
“The work of the Government now needs to turn to how we build more resilience in our communities.”
Kaitlyn Morrell is a journalist for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has lived in the region for several years and studied journalism at Massey University.