logo
Flood victims will not be on their own, says chair of contentious report

Flood victims will not be on their own, says chair of contentious report

RNZ News6 days ago
There will always be a role for the government in alleviating hardship, says the head of a panel that looked at how the government should adapt to climate change.
Photo:
RNZ
The chair of the panel behind a contentious report on how the government should adapt to climate change says its authors never meant that flood victims should get no help from the taxpayer.
The report was criticised
for leaving people to manage their own flood risk after a transition phase of possibly about 20 years.
But Matt Whineray says there will always be a role for the government in alleviating hardship, beyond the initial disaster response.
"I think the government will always have a role in alleviating hardship - that's my view and that's the discussion we had at the reference group - but most critically it's not linked to the property value."
Whineray said councils and central government could not keep buying properties at market rates when they were not suitable for rebuilding and were not covered by private insurance.
He cited overseas examples of homes being rebuilt in the same place six times, with the government as the default insurer.
Whineray said that did not mean people should be left on their own, even after a cut off date, and even after homeowners have been supplied with the best available risk information.
He said currently there was an unofficial but powerful assumption that people will be compensated to their full pre-flood value - an expensive proposition for tax- and/or rate-payers, as climate change and poor development decisions increase the number of ruined homes.
But Whineray said there were other ways to supply compensation, like capping the amount people can get for relocation assistance.
"It's just how you determine how you do that and step away from a world where you say someone gets to get $5 million because because that's what they thought it was worth the day before the event happened.
"There will be an impact (on property prices)," he said.
"If you moved directly to a world where there is no automatic buyout, you have that abruptness. The idea of the transition period is to smooth the impact.
"At some the point in the future where the government is no longer underwriting those property values, that will have been reflected by the market."
Canterbury University Professor and climate scientist Dave Frame has been studying how much worse extreme events are getting on a hotter planet, and how much worse they might be expected to get in different parts of the country.
He said he understood why some experts wanted a fund for property buyouts, and he also understood why others were wary of promising guaranteed compensation.
"Often the people who are most adept at tapping into those funds are the kind of people who've been climate sceptics their whole life, brought a low lying property and now want to exit without paying a bill. It's the classic moral hazard," he said.
"It's actually a really subtle one for the government to find a way of exercising prudent judgement, like it seems to me to be pretty clear that the people up Esk Valley weren't being unduly risky in in their behaviour."
Professor Jonathan Boston of Victoria UNiversity led a previous report on how to stage a planned exit from the most risky areas.
That report said financial help was needed to avoid worsening inequality and keep communities functioning, but the primary goal should not be restoring people's full wealth.
Boston agreed that offering uncapped compensation or government insurance encouraged people to stay (and build) in places they should not, and said councils often struggled to stop them.
But he said many people would not have the money to leave on their own, without some government assistance.
"Some people will have mortgages and they run the risk of being left without any equity, in fact in debt, other people might not have a mortgage but the property might be unsaleable so they have no means of purchasing another property... they are in what a colleague has called property purgatory."
Boston said he found it mind boggling that society would allow people with kids or serious disabilities to stay in harm's way, as councils withdrew sewage, water and road maintenance.
He did not believe the decision to exit can be left to individual choice, even once people have access better access to risk information.
"With sea level rise, more powerful storms and so on, if you look out decades and indeed centuries fro now, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of properties in New Zealand are going to be vulnerable to one kind of flooding or another, or other hazards, and if there's no assistance to help people move, well it's pretty clear that we're going to have a hell of a mess."
The environment ministry is working on options to present to the government, on how to move from today's ad hoc regime to something more financially sustainable.
What that looks like and who pays still is not clear.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Smeg New World giveaway smart move, says marketing expert
Smeg New World giveaway smart move, says marketing expert

RNZ News

time8 hours ago

  • RNZ News

Smeg New World giveaway smart move, says marketing expert

Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas Being part of New World's latest promo is unlikely to hurt Smeg's higher-end image, even if people are picking up its products for nothing, marketing experts say. The supermarket is offering baking dishes and utensil organisers in return for stickers collected at a rate of one per $20. Some items, such as the cast iron braiser, require cash on top of stickers. Kitchen Things is selling Smeg casserole dishes for more than $450 and a set of three containers for $439. Sarah Dodds, a senior marketing lecturer at Massey University, said it was a smart move for Smeg to be involved in the New World giveaway. "It gives them exposure to a broader target market, a sensible growth strategy in today's market to increase market share. "Although Smeg is typically positioned as a premium, designer appliance brand, partnering with a major supermarket like New World offers widespread visibility across New Zealand, creating brand awareness and interest from aspirational consumers who may not have previously considered high-end appliances." She said giveaways could often generate excitement and goodwill. "Associating the brand with a Kiwi supermarket can personalise the brand and increase its relatability. "The key will be to preserve the brand's premium appeal while benefiting from New World's broad reach to grow the brand in New Zealand. Having said that, New World is positioned as a supermarket that offers quality product and a full-service, premium shopping environment, so in that sense, Smeg fits reasonably well with New World." University of Auckland marketing professor Michael Lee said, if it was a new type of promotion, it could be detrimental to the Smeg brand, but the model was well known. "New World has done enough of these now, all with high-end brands, that they have sort of become pseudo status promoters of the brands involved." Foodstuffs said the promotion was a successful one, with 92 percent awareness among New World shoppers. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

'Silly games': Peeni Henare on passport design changes
'Silly games': Peeni Henare on passport design changes

Otago Daily Times

time9 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

'Silly games': Peeni Henare on passport design changes

Tāmaki Makaurau candidate Peeni Henare campaigning at Ōtara Market. Photo: RNZ/Jessica Hopkins The Labour party says Aucklanders are tired of the government's "silly games". The party was drumming up support for their candidate in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election in South Auckland on Saturday. Peeni Henare will contest the seat for Labour against Te Pāti Māori candidate, former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara, after the death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp in June. Henare, who narrowly lost to Kemp at the last election, spent Saturday morning at the bustling Ōtara Market. He was joined by Labour leader Chris Hipkins and other party members, including Georgie Dansey, who will enter parliament on Labour's party list if Henare is successful. Speaking on the government redesigning New Zealand's passport to place the English words above the te reo Māori text, Hipkins said he was opposed to the change. "It's a massive step backwards. We can be proud to have Aotearoa, New Zealand on our passports. It has been there for decades, and no one has complained about it." Henare said the government was not focusing on what mattered. A 2016 and a 2023 New Zealand passport. The older passport features the English words first - a design the government says it will change back to with new passports from 2027. Photo: Natalie Akoorie "I'm a big advocate for te reo Māori. It's concerning that the government isn't focused on real issues hurting our people, the cost of living. It's absolute silly games... from this government." Henare said he got a clear vibe from South Aucklanders that people wanted a change in government. "The message was very clear as we walked around the Ōtara Market that people want to see the back of this government." Henare said the passing of Takutai Kemp was very sad. But he said that did not mean Labour should not contest the Tāmaki Makaurau seat. "Anybody who thinks a green seat in the chamber of Parliament is a free pass for anybody is absolute folly. "Should I be successful at this by-election, our tuahine Georgia Dansey, a wahine Māori, will be coming into Parliament." He said Labour was seeking a clear mandate to represent Tāmaki Makaurau in the by-election and the 2026 elections. Chris Hipkins said they would be vigourously campaigning for Henare over the next few weeks. Those on the Māori roll will vote in the Tāmaki Makauru by-election is on 6 September, 2025.

Peeni Henare says government playing 'silly games'
Peeni Henare says government playing 'silly games'

Otago Daily Times

time9 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Peeni Henare says government playing 'silly games'

Tāmaki Makaurau candidate Peeni Henare campaigning at Ōtara Market. Photo: RNZ/Jessica Hopkins The Labour party says Aucklanders are tired of the government's "silly games". The party was drumming up support for their candidate in the Tāmaki Makaurau by-election in South Auckland on Saturday. Peeni Henare will contest the seat for Labour against Te Pāti Māori candidate, former broadcaster Oriini Kaipara, after the death of Te Pāti Māori MP Takutai Moana Tarsh Kemp in June. Henare, who narrowly lost to Kemp at the last election, spent Saturday morning at the bustling Ōtara Market. He was joined by Labour leader Chris Hipkins and other party members, including Georgie Dansey, who will enter parliament on Labour's party list if Henare is successful. Speaking on the government redesigning New Zealand's passport to place the English words above the te reo Māori text, Hipkins said he was opposed to the change. "It's a massive step backwards. We can be proud to have Aotearoa, New Zealand on our passports. It has been there for decades, and no one has complained about it." Henare said the government was not focusing on what mattered. A 2016 and a 2023 New Zealand passport. The older passport features the English words first - a design the government says it will change back to with new passports from 2027. Photo: Natalie Akoorie "I'm a big advocate for te reo Māori. It's concerning that the government isn't focused on real issues hurting our people, the cost of living. It's absolute silly games... from this government." Henare said he got a clear vibe from South Aucklanders that people wanted a change in government. "The message was very clear as we walked around the Ōtara Market that people want to see the back of this government." Henare said the passing of Takutai Kemp was very sad. But he said that did not mean Labour should not contest the Tāmaki Makaurau seat. "Anybody who thinks a green seat in the chamber of Parliament is a free pass for anybody is absolute folly. "Should I be successful at this by-election, our tuahine Georgia Dansey, a wahine Māori, will be coming into Parliament." He said Labour was seeking a clear mandate to represent Tāmaki Makaurau in the by-election and the 2026 elections. Chris Hipkins said they would be vigourously campaigning for Henare over the next few weeks. Those on the Māori roll will vote in the Tāmaki Makauru by-election is on 6 September, 2025.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store