New Zealand needs to overhaul its preparation and response planning for severe weather events if it’s to learn the lessons from deadly cyclones and rainfall that hit the country last year. 

That is a central finding from an extensive Government inquiry of the response to Cyclone Hale, the Auckland Anniversary heavy rainfall, and Cyclone Gabrielle that battered several regions in quick succession more than 12 months ago. 

The inquiry, led by former Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae, has deemed the country’s emergency management system “not fit for purpose” and wasn’t able to cope with events impacting multiple regions at once. 

Regularly referenced was the “striking disconnect” between affected communities and local authorities which led to confusion, a disjointed response and left many feeling let down by their councils. 

The inquiry made several recommendations, including legislating people and communities as a central feature of the emergency management system, developing a comprehensive education programme about how to respond to such events, a “recalibration” of the National Emergency Management Agency [NEMA] as well as significantly increasing its funding. 

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell agreed the country’s systems designed to respond to such events were not fit for purpose and had “significant gaps we need to address”. 

However, he refrained from committing to any funding increase or legislative change at this stage, other than scrapping the Emergency Management Bill in light of the inquiry considering the bill, proposed by the former Labour Government, to be insufficient. 

Mitchell promised to introduce a bill this term while also committing to making further decisions in the next few months after considering the inquiry’s recommendations, despite having had the inquiry’s findings for a month. 

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell is committing to introducing a bill this term to improve the country's response to such events. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

The 164-page inquiry, released this morning, was prefaced with an acknowledgement of the 15 people who died and one who remains missing following the severe weather events. 

It highlighted Treasury estimates that the events caused between $9 billion and $14.5b of physical damage to households, businesses, and infrastructure, alongside an estimated $400 million to $600m loss of economic output over the first half of 2023. 

The authors credited the thousands from iwi, hapū, community groups, businesses, voluntary organisations, and individuals, whose actions blunted the events’ impact across the country. 

However, the inquiry detailed the “significant shortcomings” exposed within New Zealand’s emergency management systems. 

“In some places, warnings were received too late or not at all, Civil Defence centres were not set up fast enough or did not meet the needs of communities, there was a lack of coordination between key organisations, and communication and decision-making was slow or non-existent. 

“Ultimately, the system did not meet the needs of many New Zealanders.” 

Cyclone Gabrielle left Hawke's Bay and other East Coast communities devastated. Photo / Mike Scott 

A consistent theme found by the inquiry was a clear disconnect between what people expected of their local Civil Defence providers and what those providers expected of communities, ultimately leading to affected people feeling let down. 

“Many CDEM [Civil Defence Emergency Management] agencies had a perception or assumption that communities and volunteer groups knew their role in the immediate response. 

“Often these expectations did not seem to be evident to the communities themselves. 

“For many communities and individuals, the CDEM response was perceived to be absent or inadequate.” 

The inquiry quoted a Hawke’s Bay resident, impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle, to capture that sentiment among communities. 

“Living through this experience has brought me closer to my community but really shown me how disjointed, dysfunctional, self-centred, self-serving local and central government and all the groups that are supposed to help us are.” 

This finding appeared to have informed the inquiry’s recommendation to enhance communities’ understanding of their role in such a crisis through a comprehensive education campaign, as well as detailing the role of communities in legislation. 

One of the few positive findings within the inquiry was reserved for Māori organisations, which were credited for responding “more effectively than some councils”, despite being “non-existent” in some regions’ emergency management plans. 

The inquiry called for the role such organisations played in the response to severe weather events to be recognised in legislation and formalised within an overarching emergency management system. 

Councils were criticised for “actively choosing not to make their emergency management funding a priority”, leading to local authorities not being adequately prepared. 

Auckland's western communities were among those hit the hardest during heavy rainfall early last year. Photo / Alex Burton 

The inquiry did acknowledge councils needed financial support from central government to do so, something it also found was needed by NEMA. 

“[NEMA] is a small agency that does not have the funding or expertise to undertake the full breadth of activities it is currently tasked with. 

“It is the inquiry’s view that the Government should considerably increase the appropriation for the existing contestable fund that NEMA administers, which at the time of this report was just under $900,000, to better enable councils and communities to build readiness and resilience.” 

The inquiry cited NEMA’s assessment that Cyclone Gabrielle was a “moderate scale event” as it urged central government to refrain from viewing an overhaul of its emergency management systems in isolation. 

“Even with a gold-standard system, readiness and response can only do so much. 

“If homes are built on flood plains, they will flood. If critical infrastructure is inadequately designed or maintained, it will fail.” 

Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the NZ Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime. 

This article was originally posted by NZ Herald here.