Clive Bibby: The debilitating effect of no hope

Most kiwis will have relatives who have been personally affected by the cyclones that ravaged the East Coast regions of Tairawhiti and Northern Hawkes Bay.

This Country’s diverse population is (with the exception of those who live in the Auckland region) spread rather evenly throughout the provinces of both islands and so when catastrophic weather events like the recent cyclones wreak havoc in rural New Zealand, the whole nation is watching to see if their extended family members are in danger. We react as one during times of crisis and that is comforting to know if you are being subjected to unrelenting pressure such as that which is ongoing here at Ground Zero.

However, as comforting as the knowledge that the Country has your back is, the reality on the ground is that our government is bogged down trying to defend its actions or inactions that have led to serious consequences when the proverbial hit the fan during the storms.

That has meant that the rescue effort has been compromised at a time when government support is an essential component of the relief package.

For example:

An important part of the investigations into the scale of the cyclone damage - the reasons for the damage, who or what was to blame - was the government’s land use inquiry with its terms of reference deliberately designed to avoid any scrutiny of the Government’s past and current policies that aggravated the impact of this unmitigated disaster.

Here at the coalface, government ministers are regularly on the scene, making promises of much needed relief packages, many of which are unlikely to arrive before the election and a cynical view would suggest the politicians would have known that.

Unfortunately, the people at the coalface are just about at the end of their ability to keep on responding to the simplest of tasks that would ensure survival.

They simply can’t continue to front the difficulties they face day after day.

Something may crack within what has been an indomitable spirit that has risen to the occasion so many times over the last 6 months. There is only so much these people should be expected to take.

If they do find the going too tough and cease to respond, the implications for the nation as a whole and the government in particular is serious indeed.

While the East Coast is a relatively remote and insignificant unit that is regularly at the lower end of the provincial productive stats, if it were to fail the message to the rest of the country would be devastating.

The loss of nationwide confidence that would follow is just one reason why it can’t be allowed to happen.

In these times, people under duress can survive almost anything if they are offered hope by leadership that is respected for its ability to deliver on its promises.

My concern is that the current government has demonstrated an inability to back up its words with real evidence that better times are on the way.

That is the real crisis. It is one of belief in something that is beyond the individual.

We must somehow get the message to our brothers and sisters in need that we are all in this together and no stone will be left unturned in order to ensure a respectable recovery.

That won’t be easy when the daily reports from the districts who have lost so much suggest they might soon run out of time waiting for the help that so far hasn’t arrived.

They deserve more than that.

Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.