Some will say it is easy to point the finger at those who had responsibilities for public safety after the event and they are right to do so but, unless we learn from the mistakes that could and should have been avoided, we will not be better prepared for the next one and our losses from these and similar events will just be compounded in the future.
So, let’s for the moment examine the aftermath of both extraordinary floods that will have transformed, not only the landscape but hopefully the way we do things in future.
But in order for that to happen, we must be prepared to acknowledge the failures in human oversight that led to the catastrophes that were waiting to happen.
For my part, as someone who has lived and farmed at the epicentre of one of the areas most vulnerable to floods of this magnitude (one in 100 years), any following report (review) must include as a priority, conversations with people most affected by the storm damage.
Unfortunately, it has been my own painful experience to find most of the reviews (official enquiries) undertaken by Local and Government Authorities have refused to listen to this (invaluable) advice - instead choosing to coverup the obvious avoidable mistakes made by staff and politicians while laying the blame on those individuals and practices that were considered expendable.
I am hoping that the latest Marlborough floods will be followed by an enquiry capable of establishing the truth about what happened, who or what was responsible and what needs to happen in order to avoid it happening again.
It would be nice to think that our leaders will have moved on from previous attempts at sheltering those with reputations at stake but, human nature being what it is, l fear that we are in for another round of navel gazing, lacking the courage to identify the real changes that may cost not only huge amounts of unbudgeted funds but also the jobs of those who were in charge when the proverbial hit the fan.
My guess is that the country as a whole is getting tired of people who claim to have all the answers when controlling the purse strings that affect the lives of us mere mortals but are missing in action when it all blows up in their faces.
We need people who will not only learn from mistakes made by themselves or their colleagues but, perhaps more importantly, take responsibility for (as LV Martin used to say) putting things right after the event.
Given my experiences here on the East Coast during the last 45 years, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to find out what went wrong, who or what is to blame and what needs to be done to (as much as possible) prevent it happening again. The Parata Enquiry after the 2023 floods (like most Government commissioned investigations after disasters that occurred on their watch) was a political construct designed to shield those most responsible from blame for either actions they took or inaction that was just as deliberate. Perhaps it is unsurprising that so far, the only people who have been held to account were those few “cowboy” forestry operators who should never have been allowed near the vulnerable land in the first place.
Meanwhile it has been left to the current Government to make the changes needed by way of legislation and to land management policies that will go some way to restoring the environment to a sustainable level.
The failure of previous Central and Local Government administrations to oversee sustainable farming and forestry practices is a matter of public record yet those who should have been held accountable for those failures are either still operating in the same capacity or have quietly vacated the premises without suffering any censure or penalty - possibly even been rewarded with a golden handshake or gong for services rendered.
That is not good enough if we are serious about making amends for historical failures in judgement that had enormous consequences.
It shouldn’t be left to physical “has-beens” like me to point out the errors that could and should have been avoided.
Why do people like us keep on being ignored when our lifetime experiences mean we have so much local knowledge to offer?
And it wouldn’t be so bad if those who need to know would take the time to listen.
It isn’t as if we are charging the same exorbitant fees for the advice they are getting from people telling them things they want to hear.
Ours is free!
What more do they want!
Clive Bibby is a commentator, consultant, farmer and community leader, who lives in Tolaga Bay.
8 comments:
I've just been told that the writer is a wise and experienced person who knows what went wrong and whose to blame. We've also been told that the government inquiry was a cover up. OK. Then what did go wrong and who is to blame? Surely the writer can say without being defamatory, because otherwise he I part of that cover up he complains about.
This article is like telling a very lengthy joke, but leaving out the punch line. BV shouldn't publish articles that just waste everyone's time.
Yes Clive … we’re dealing with corrupt politicians, bureaucrats and businesses who lack any moral compass and whose one and only policy is “money-talks-sh#t-walks” …. and believe me, those bastards don’t walk …. they run laughing all the way to the bank.
The degree of blindness to the obvious astonished me. Persons seem not to recognise that flood plains were created by floods. There is vast historic record including photos of past floods in Hawkes Bay. it is proposterous that building in the Esk valley was allowed. The public has borne much of the cost. Similarly anyone who has seen a modern pine forestr operation cannot but be struck by the barren ground and mountains of unrestricted slash. Assuming Coucil and govt staff occassionally visited, how tiny minded, unimaginitive and unread (or just young) were these people?. Is our forestry business worth the damage? Large scale fires will,be the next disaster. Fortunately, unlke property damage, no one will be able to enforce carbon compensation.
No problem Anon 6.08
Unlike you, l am happy to name and shame under my own name.
Previous Governments, especially the last one under Ardern allowed the foreign purchase of our land including thousands of hectares of our best grazing / arrable country purely to satisfy the demands of the idealogically driven ETS ( Emissions Trading Scheme) when we were telling them it was out of control.
They should have restricted the expansion of the rampant forestry industry by limiting it to classes 6 and 7 marginal hill country and by using the OIO (Overseas Investment Office) to control the purchase of land suitable for forestry by restricting it to mainly NZ investors.
They did neither!
The other main culprit was the local authorities who failed to police the forestry management resource consents that were issued by local councils.
Had they done so, much of the damage caused by the floods would have been averted because the most vulnerable areas would have been retired after planting in permanent forests. Those requirements were crucial parts of the resource consents and were aimed at preventing the logging trash from entering the valleys and streams and eventually the main river courses.
As a result of this failure, the cowboy operators harvested right into the water courses and nobody was available to stop them.
And when the local authorities did get around to it after the enquiry, they even tried to pin the damage on some of the best forestry management companies who had carried out their responsibilities under the operating consents to the letter.
In other words, the main culprits got off “ Scott free” and the innocent carried the can.
It was the most blatant abuse of power by any government in modern history.
Is that enough for you or do you still think there is someone l have missed who should be held to account.
.Believe me - it is no laughing matter.
Yeah …… good on you Clive. All correct & present. And the elephant in the room, driving all this corruption & greed is …….. our population growth, exaggerated by IMMIGRATION. This acceleration of citizens has not been balance by Learning to Govern & making long-term decisions for the betterment of all. Self Interest (I think) has outshone due diligence.
I recall the media being slow to take an interest in the North Island East Coast floods. The media and political build up was strange.
Under the heading “Coverups and Culpability” Clive Bibby yet again attacks the Parata Enquiry of 2013 which was conducted following Cyclones Gabrielle and Hale to determine the issue of forestry and its extraction. Clive says of the enquiry; it “was a political construct designed to shield those most responsible from blame for either actions they took or inaction that was just as deliberate”. He still claims that its findings were constructed to protect those that were responsible – catastrophic weather events didn’t seem to be a factor. Clive even dismissed the proposed enquiry as a ‘Clayton’s enquiry’ before its members were even determined. I think such was a slur on those who sat on it, or worse. The Parata Enquiry met, heard copious submission, and came down with sensible recommendations. I think that these repeated attacks look like a vendetta.
The historic facts regarding commercial afforestation in the Gisborne/Wairoa regions are simple. Initially the drive for meat and wool production brought about the conversion of steep erodible land from natural forest to pasture. This helped us to become a very wealthy country and was fundamental to the prosperity of those areas. But this land was soon proved it to be vulnerable to severe erosion. The effects of Cyclone Bola in March, 1988 caused such erosion that it could no longer be ignored. In its wisdom, the Government brought about the conversion of the land to forestry (pines) through encouragement, rather than regulation. This took some doing, as the land was in private ownership, and in some cases had been farmed by a family for generations. Was this wrong. Given the circumstances – and options - not really. What was not appreciated was the task of orderly extraction.
Three or so decades later harvesting was undertaken, and here the standards proved inadequate. This became obvious with more catastrophic rain bombs. Such is the clarity of hindsight.
Now new standards are in place, that impose considerable obligation and costs on extractors. What now? Replace with what. Back to pasture, or just abandonment? Neither, though maybe the latter in some cases. More forestry, with various species, including native, but compulsively in the more accessible, probably radiata, the standout commercial tree. Only trees can protect this land, as they always have.
It is easy to point the figure at forestry, but it is our third largest earner of exchange, and likely to eventually overtake meat to become second. For Gisborne it is a major industry and the region depends on it. We must make it work, and we can. (Note; the current acquisition of moderately-contoured farmland for forestry, motivated by carbon accreditation is another issue from that considered above.)
I’ll leave it to readers who follow my contributions to this blog to decide who is conducting a “vendetta”.
Far from being a slur against the Parata Enquiry members reputations, l have repeatedly referred to them as honourable people trying to do an impossible task given the terms of reference they had to work within.
That is why l have been specific when naming and shaming those responsible. Note that none of the Enquiry members are amongst those l consider culpable - but Central and Local Government members of past administrations most certainly are.
I hope Ewan McGregor’s entry into this exchange of views on an important subject that he obviously knows little about is not a sign that he is more interested in continuing his personal attacks on me personally than engaging in respectful dialogue.
If so, l will not be responding to such attacks. Perhaps that will at least satisfy the moderator that l am a man of my word.
Over to Ewan.
Post a Comment