SH25A, cyclones, Hamilton fale: the big stories of January 2023

As the year draws to a close, Waikato Herald is taking stock of 2023. What moved readers most? As part of a 12-day series, Waikato Herald reporter Danielle Zollickhofer looks at the top stories each month. Welcome to day one: January.

Nationally, January 2023 was brand-marked by the Auckland floods and the resignation of Jacinda Ardern as prime minister.

However, in the Waikato, the year started rather jolly with exciting news and projects.

Fonterra Tīrau swapped its production from ethanol to lactose, Morrinsville mums Renee Norman and Jenna Smith won the Exercise NZ Awards for their special post-partum sports programme and one of Scott Dixon’s Indy Cars found its home in the Waikato.

Other big stories in the region were:

Train from Hamilton to Tauranga on the cards

Although it’s unlikely to happen under the current Government, two local community initiatives joined forces to put a passenger train service between Hamilton and Tauranga on the cards.

Making Rail Work partnered with The Rail Opportunity Network, the group that was established to support the Auckland-Hamilton passenger rail Te Huia, to create New Zealand’s first rail co-operative.

The co-operative could act as a conduit to a public-private partnership for the delivery of inter-regional passenger rail in the Golden Triangle of Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga.

Traditional fale opens in Hamilton

Hamilton-based Pacific Island community trust K’aute Pasifika opened the K’aute Pasifika Village and its huge Pacific fale or meeting house.

More than 1500 guests from across the Waikato, the rest of Aotearoa and the broader Pacific region gathered in Hamilton to celebrate this milestone that had been almost 25 years in the making.

K’aute Pasifika Trust CEO Rachel Karalus made an emotional speech acknowledging the almost quarter of a century of struggle for the combined Pacific Island community to find acceptance and recognition in the Waikato and New Zealand.

One of the keynote speakers at the opening was then-Minister of Pacific Peoples Aupito William Sio who held a colourful speech that ended with him taking off his shirt and, wearing just a lavalava, showing some of his traditional Samoan body tattoos and breaking into a spontaneous Samoan celebration dance.

Around 1500 people attended the official opening event of the fale in January. Photo / Stephen Barker, Barker Photography

Highway 25A washed away

At the end of January, ex-tropical Cyclone Hale caused havoc in Auckland and the Coromandel, ultimately leading to the collapse of State Highway 25A which cut off the main Kopu-Hikuai route.

Waka Kotahi then said it was “working through solutions for a long-term fix”, leaving many Coromandel locals to speculate on social media about the road possibly being out of action for months.

Little did they know how right they were.

State Highway 25A on the Coromandel Peninsula completely collapsed near the summit after heavy rain caused widespread slips and damage across the upper north island in January. Photo / NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi

Danielle Zollickhofer is a multimedia journalist based in Hamilton. She joined NZME in 2021 and is writing for the Waikato Herald.

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