- Initial $100 million flood protection funding
- More on-farm support for the safety and well-being of people and stock
- Employment schemes to retrain workers facing volatile jobs market
- More support for food banks and ongoing clean-up effort
The Budget 2023 Flood and Cyclone recovery package will boost resilience against future extreme weather events with an investment of $100 million in flood protection.
Flood protection
Regions affected by the recent North Island extreme weather events will be able to apply for funding from an initial $100 million in Budget 2023 for local solutions to keep them safe from future floods.
“Flooding and debris has destroyed homes and businesses, cut off communities, and caused widespread damage, particularly to industries like horticulture,” Kieran McAnulty said.
“We’ve also seen flood banks protect communities from devastation. For example, the Taradale stopbank, which was strengthened ahead of Gabrielle through the Government’s infrastructure program, was held during the Cyclone.
“The $100 million protection fund announced today will go towards practical flood protection infrastructure like stopbanks as well as other local measures that can protect communities from flooding.
“The Government will work closely with impacted councils from the Far North through to the Wairarapa on interventions tailored to each region and their vulnerability to future flooding.
Decisions on the funding will also be tied to work on the future of land use to ensure streamlined decisions are made.
“This $100 million is on top of the standard support the Government provides to councils to repair and rebuild following a disaster – this includes covering 60 percent of costs of damaged essential infrastructure owned by councils,” Kieran McAnulty said.
Kiri Allan said.
“The Government’s previous investment into flood protection measures such as stopbanks saved lives, homes, businesses, and communities during Cyclone Gabrielle. This included the Waipaoa Stopbank in Gisborne.”
“Without this previous investment, the level of flooding and destruction would have been significantly higher. The Government will continue to build even greater resilience in our regions to provide better protection for local communities and economies.”
More support for rural communities
Kieran McAnulty said that it has been a tough start to the year for parts of the primary sector, with rural communities hit hard by the extreme weather events in the North Island.
Kieran McAnulty said,
“Our rural communities are not only the backbone of our economy, but they’re also a support network in times of crisis.”
“We saw the strength of our rural communities during the response to Cyclone Gabrielle with people going above and beyond to check on their neighbors, using whatever they could to keep each other safe.”
The Government is investing $35.4 million to support the safety and wellbeing of farmers and growers, and stock in cyclone-damaged areas by scaling up on-farm technical, scientific, and financial advice. This funding will support:
- access to expert advice where it is needed to inform and address urgent health and safety, and animal welfare needs, and to ensure the safety of ongoing operations;
- urgent maintenance where this is critical to the health and safety of stock and staff; and
- critical transport of essential supplies, people, and stock related to animal health and welfare needs and health and safety.
“Of this, $5.4 million will be targeted to help operate rural community hubs, and ensure ongoing access to reliable telecommunications including satellite connectivity,” Kieran McAnulty said.
Supporting businesses to retain and retrain workers
Businesses and workers in affected regions will also receive a boost in employment and social support to help them through the recovery.
Carmel Sepuloni said,
“The labor markets in Hawkes Bay and on the East Coast have changed. They usually have a regular and predictable seasonal jobs market, but the weather events have affected this and we are seeing the number of people on Jobseeker begin to slowly rise.”
“The package we are announcing today will help people retrain and prepare for the jobs that will be required during the recovery and rebuild.”
“As well as retraining, we will also focus on ‘retaining’.”
“To achieve this we’re increasing investment in successful schemes to keep people in the workforce including the Transition to Work grant, the $5K to Work scheme, Mana in Mahi, and industry partnerships.”
“There will be an additional $6 million for the Food Secure Communities program to support community food providers, such as food banks and food rescue organizations, to meet the increased demand for their services.”
The recovery package also includes $5 million for Extending Community Support Funds, establishes a new Jobs and Skills Hub in Gisborne, and provides a further $1 million towards Enhanced Taskforce Green, which is still supporting Councils with clean-up work.
Sources: THX News & Hon Carmel Sepuloni, Hon Kiritapu Allan & Hon Kieran Mcanulty.
