At the beginning of the press conference Hipkins acknowledged the death of former MP Chester Borrows, “an honest, straight-shooter and all-round thoroughly decent bloke”.
Hipkins said the cyclone was estimated to have caused more destruction to businesses and infrastructure since Cyclone Bola in 1988.
He acknowledged there was a huge job to work out how to rebuild the infrastructure. Up to 9000 homes in total have had to be assessed. As many as 1800 households in Auckland were expected to need temporary accommodation.
The PM said there were 296 schools that were closed at one point but that number is now 25. Only about 80 people are still sheltering in civil defence headquarters.
He said the Government would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with businesses and householders affected.
“Recovery is not a job we can do alone, so today we are looking for support from our friends.”
There would be a co-ordinating unit within the Department of PM and Cabinet for the recovery, but at this point no consideration has been given to setting up a special Recovery Authority, as happened after the Christchurch earthquake.
Hipkins said that was because the decision was to take a regional approach rather than treat it as one overall approach, given the impacts on each region were so different.
Fundraising appeal
The fundraising appeal would be run by a special trust. Westpac, Colenso and BBDO had been working on it for days and Facebook had offered to publicise it, and would help facilitate international donations.
Hipkins said it would add to the fundraisers already underway.
Hipkins said he did not want to set a target for the appeal, but the immediate aftermath of a disaster was the best time to start fundraising. He was aware of some big donations that had already been signalled - but would not reveal who they were from.
He said they would be looking for international donations to supplement those of New Zealand’s. He said he would love to hear from wealthy people living abroad and businesses with interests in New Zealand when it came to the fundraising appeal
On the prospects of a cyclone tax, Hipkins said the Government was still working through how it would pay for the recovery and had to weigh up all options. He said that would be done as soon as possible.
Lotto NZ chief executive Chris Lyman confirmed the special draw would be held on March 18.
Lotto NZ would double its usual community contribution so that half of all tickets sales – or 50 cents in every dollar spent by players on Lotto, Powerball or Strike – will go to support those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle.
”Like all New Zealanders, our hearts go out to the communities that have suffered the devastating impact of Cyclone Gabrielle – and we want to do all we can to help.
”Raising money for the community is Lotto NZ’s fundamental purpose, and so we welcome the opportunity to support recovery efforts by raising funds through this special draw.”
Similar special draws were held following the Christchurch Earthquake in 2011 and the Kaikōura/Hurunui earthquake in 2016.
Responding to calls from Federated Farmers for the Army to be called into Hawke’s Bay to help with the clean-up and crime, Hipkins said the military was working up the East Coast to keep supplies going in.
He said when it came to law and order, the Police Commissioner was happy he could call extra police in from other regions - there were about 145 extra police in now.
“Any reports of opportunistic crime are very concerning. Police will investigate those.” Hipkins urged people to report crime as soon as it happened.
He said it was up to Police to decide if they needed the assistance. Ministers were monitoring what was happening on the ground.
‘Inappropriate’ comments by Te Whatu Ora chair
When asked about Te Whatu Ora - Health NZ board chair’s Rob Campbell’s social media post at the weekend, Hipkins said Campbell’s comments were “inappropriate” for the role he held and had “stepped well outside” the neutrality required of a public service chair.
“That is ultimately now an issue the ministers responsible will be raising with him.”
Campbell came under fire after he apparently took to social media to vent about National’s Three Waters policy and the party’s leader Christopher Luxon. As the chair of a Crown Entity, Campbell is subject to public service impartiality, which the statements appear to fall foul of.
Support for businesses
On the prospect of wage subsidies for businesses, Hipkins said the challenge was that some businesses would be back in business fairly quickly while others had been decimated. That made it difficult to apply a universal package, so it was still under consideration.
Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson yesterday said further announcements on Government support for businesses were likely – one of the pressing issues for many businesses is continuing to pay staff while they cannot operate.
Robertson said redeployment of those staff was one option and the Government was in talks with the largest employers about how to best support them.
So far the Government has set up a quick-response $50 million fund, split between the primary sector and small and medium businesses. The latter provides for grants of up to $40,000 for those businesses to use on clean-up costs, or as cashflow to contend with supply chain breakdowns or an inability to serve their customers.
This morning, Housing Minister Megan Woods announced that the Temporary Accommodation Service had been set up to help the thousands whose homes are inhabitable while they rebuild or repair.
However, she warned that because of the scale of the disaster, it could take some time for all those who needed it to be given accommodation.
About 1200 to 1800 were expected to use that service in Auckland – the numbers from the other affected regions are likely to be higher.
If that demand is too high for the available accommodation, one option is to set up cyclone villages with modular homes or relocated cabins – as happened in Christchurch after the quakes.
