.....$1bn will flow into cyclone recovery
Whoa there. Did Budget Day arrive several days earlier than Point of Order had been led to believe?
Five press statements from the Beehive landed in our email this morning, embargoed for release at 10.30 am.
The PM led the charge, announcing a billion-dollar flood and cyclone recovery package as part of Budget 2023 that covers the basics of rebuilding roads, rail and schools while preparing for future events with a big investment in flood protection measures.
Here’s how the dosh is being distributed.
Transport –
- $275 million for Waka Kotahi and local councils to repair affected roads and get essential transport network operating again. This is on top of the $250 million the Government announced immediately after Cyclone Gabrielle.
- A $200 million funding injection to repair the North Island rail system.
- $10 million to provide additional support for community-led mental wellbeing initiatives.
- 6.1 million to cover community, primary and residential care, providing workforce relief for locum GP, pharmacy and nursing staff, increased funding for air ambulances for an additional six months and improved access to online GP, community health, mental health and addiction, and registered nurse consultations.
- $8.9 million for front-line health providers supporting isolated communities in Northland, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay. This includes funding for air and road transport, helping people get to appointments, medical outreach, and other hospital services for isolated communities.
- $1.7 million toward leasing suitable vehicles to provide access to services, and diesel generators for the operation of health services while repairs are undertaken.
- $8.3 million for the Hauora Māori disaster response, for urgent services that support whānau wellbeing and the community to recover from the impacts of North Island Weather Events.
- $100 million for flood protection. Regions affected by the recent North Island extreme weather events will be able to apply for this funding for practical flood protection infrastructure like stop banks and other local measures that can protect communities from flooding. This $100 million is on top of the standard support the Government provides to councils to repair and rebuild following a disaster.
- $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. Of this, $5.4 million will be targeted to help operate rural community hubs, and ensure ongoing access to reliable telecommunications including satellite connectivity.
- $6 million for the Food Secure Communities programme to support community food providers, such as food banks and food rescue organisations, to meet the increased demand on their services.
- $5 million for Extending Community Support Funds, establishing a new Jobs and Skills Hub in Gisborne, and providing a further $1 million towards Enhanced Taskforce Green.
- $31 million to cover the immediate costs associated with returning affected schools to working order following the extreme North Island Weather events. This includes repairs to roofs, plumbing infrastructure, carpentry, tree removal, and emergency cleaning.
- $85 million funding for the ongoing work required to return schools to their pre-weather-event state. In some cases, this may require redevelopment or relocation.
- $700,000 over two years for Special Reasons Staffing funding, $315,000 of this available immediately.
- $782,000 for the replacement of school library collections and related library resources lost due to the North Island Weather Events that cannot be replaced by other funding.
Latest from the Beehive
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.
The Cyclone recovery package is providing dedicated investment into mental health and wellbeing support, including extending the successful Mana Ake programme developed following the Christchurch quakes into every school in the Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti.
The Government is stepping up to repair the North Island transport network hit by Cyclone Gabrielle and the January floods to ease the financial pressure on Councils.
The Government is committing to return all schools impacted by the Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle to their pre-weather event state through the Cyclone recovery package announced today.
The Government has announced a billion dollar flood and cyclone recovery package as part of Budget 2023 that covers the basics of rebuilding roads, rail and schools while preparing for future events with a big investment in flood protection measures.
The Government’s fog cannon subsidy scheme has hit a major milestone, with the installation of the 500th fog cannon at a store in Lower Hutt on Friday.
The Government has restored another key transport route for cyclone affected communities, with State Highway 2 between Wairoa and Napier reopening to traffic tomorrow morning.
Budget 2023 continues the Government’s year-on-year investment in initiatives to eliminate family violence and sexual violence.
In his press statement, the PM said cyclone recovery is a core focus of this year’s Budget.
Today’s package adds to the $890 million already provided in a rolling maul of repair works and business support, he said.
The package aims to get roads, rail and schools back to where they were before the extreme weather hit this year, enabling communities to get back to normal as soon as possible.
Treasury has estimated the damage from Cyclone Gabrielle and the Auckland Floods could range from $9 billion to $14.5 billion, second behind only the Canterbury earthquakes in terms of damage from natural disasters New Zealand has faced. Of this, $5-7.5 billion of damage is expected to relate to infrastructure owned by central and local government.
Earlier this week, Finance Minister Grant Robertson announced $4 billion worth of reprioritisations and savings had been identified through the Budget process to go towards more pressing priorities, like the Cyclone recovery.
The package announced today was significant, but was not end of the government’s support to weather-affected regions, he said.
The costs relate to damage, and don’t include all of the immediate and ongoing support for communities and businesses provided by the Government in our programme of rolling support.
Point of Order is a blog focused on politics and the economy run by veteran newspaper reporters Bob Edlin and Ian Templeton
2 comments:
I would love to know more about these "reprioritisations. What was this money originally earmarked for, and what process was used to decide that the new use of the money is a higher priority than the original purpose. I would love to see Grant asked this question in Parliament.
What about Government decision for legal instructions to start the process of forestry companies advising their Public Liability Insurance to prepare for massive claim for forestry slash damage .
Forestry slash was NOT a taxpayer and ratepayer Misfeasance of Justice.
Forestry knew it could create harm to others.
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