Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has announced further financial support for those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle at his post-Cabinet press conference this afternoon.

Farmers and growers can access a further $26 million provided by the Government following Cyclone Gabrielle.

Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said MPI now estimates that about 5.5k individual farms and growers covering thousands of hectares have been impacted by the cyclone.

About 250 claims for financial support are being lodged per day, Hipkins said.

A total of $55m had been invested so far to help farmers and growers.

There are some early and small signs of recovery in the agriculture sector, Fonterra is reporting milk collections are starting to get back to normal in Hawke’s Bay, Hipkins said.

Hipkins would be in Taupo on Thursday and then travel to the Coromandel to survey roading damage and speak to businesses and residents.

The Government received 2846 applications in 12 days from farmers seeking to access the $29m of support that had already been devoted to the primary sector, which was hit hard by the cyclone.

Finance and Cyclone Recovery Minister Grant Robertson said more than $17.4m had been paid out thus far.

”We knew there would be more need during the response phase as people took time to take stock and work through their clean-up from Cyclone Gabrielle,” he said.

”As with the response to Covid-19 we need to be nimble, flexible and responsive to immediate needs.”

Stock farmers and those with crops were eligible for grants up to $10,000, while other growers could access $2000 per hectare up to a maximum of $40,000.

Grant applications were open until March 20 but those in hard-to-reach areas could apply up until April 3.

People who had already received a grant could not apply again.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said the financial assistance had been welcomed by the sector.

”They’ve told us the grants are providing certainty of immediate funding, which has given them the confidence and reassurance to start remediating their farms and orchards.”

On the Government’s comments on the future of funding for road maintenance, Hipkins said the Government’s priorities would change given the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle. He said he was a big fan of bus lanes and cycling but he said it was important to ensure roading resilience.

Hipkins said Michael Wood was speaking to the draft that was yet to be released and he expected that draft would change in the current circumstances.

Resilience will be a “much much bigger priority” now, Hipkins said.

Hipkins said the transport network had been shown to be wanting in the face of the cyclone and said resilence had to be “front and centre” of future work, and that he would articulate how the Government would pay for this when announcements came.

On Georgina Beyer’s passing, Hipkins said he didn’t know Georgina well and extended his condolences to all her family.

He believed she made a lasting impact on Parliament. “I certainly think that Georgina blazed a trail that has made it much easier for others to follow.”

On literacy and numeracy tests, Hipkins said there was a challenge there. He said workplaces were reporting young people didn’t have the necessary skills. However, he didn’t want to see the standard lowered to make sure more people passed.

The Government has already committed $250 million to fix damaged roading networks, alongside $50m for affected businesses and those working in the primary sector.

Half of that $50m package had been directed towards farmers, growers, whenua Māori owners, and rural communities.

Stock farmers and those with crops could apply for grants up to $10,000 to assist with repairs to water infrastructure and fencing.

Grants for growers of $2000 per hectare up to a maximum of $40,000 were also available to remove silt from trees and vines, support the clean-up, and minimise tree and vine losses.

Emergency Management Minister Kieran McAnulty today announced the state of national emergency in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti, declared on February 14, would be extended for a further seven days.

“In the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay regions, thousands of people are still unable to return to their homes due to flood damage,” he said.

“While together we’ve made some serious progress, the mahi (work) is ongoing and there are still major road access issues for some communities.

“We need to keep co-ordinating this response at a national level in these areas to ensure we are properly supporting the Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence Emergency Management Groups, and co-ordinating the personnel and equipment needed to transport essential supplies into the affected areas.”

McAnulty also intended to include Wairarapa in a national transition period, after consultation with local councils.

Northland, Auckland, Waikato and the Tararua District were all in a state of national emergency following the cyclone, but had since been placed in a national transition period.

The national transition period enabled remedial work to be carried out, such as restoring access to cut-off properties or making temporary infrastructure repairs.

Hipkins will front media at 4pm today, which will be live-streamed by the Herald.

It comes as the Government is walking back aspects of its land transport plan, after they were published by the Herald this morning.

Transport Minister Michael Wood. Photo / Mark Mitchell

The Herald revealed Transport Minister Michael Wood and transport officials were putting together a plan that would place emissions reduction as a top priority of the transport plan, known as a Government Policy Statement (GPS) on land transport.

The plan included changing the way road maintenance funding was used, putting it towards cycleways and bus lanes as well as just fixing roads.

But that has changed, with Wood now promising an “emergency style” plan that responds to the maintenance needs of Cyclone Gabrielle.

“The indicative transport priorities signed off by Cabinet last year will change in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle,” Wood said.

“We are now working on an emergency style GPS that will focus on the huge task of reconstruction of roads and bridges washed out by the cyclone and flooding, as well as building greater resilience so our transport network can better withstand the increasing frequency of extreme weather events like we have seen this year.

“No final decisions, including changes to fuel exercise duty, have been made as we are still working through the full extent of the damage inflicted by Gabrielle,” he said.

“That said, I can confirm the next GPS will continue our record-breaking investment in transport infrastructure in order to catch up with years of under-investment by the previous Government.

“Much like if you refuse to maintain your house or car for nearly a decade, you’ll pay for it later; this is what we have been dealing with.”

On Monday, the Herald reported ministers were finalising a new transport strategy that will, for the first time, make climate change the top priority when it comes to deciding how transport funding gets invested.

The plan, which would go out for consultation this year, will dictate where tens of billions of dollars of transport funding will be spent in the next three years and promises a stark pivot towards public transport and away from emissions-intensive investments, like new highways.

Cyclone damage to several roading networks has been extensive.

Wood had proposed changes to the way $2b of maintenance money is spent each year, which could mean swapping car parks for new bus lanes and cycleways - paid for with the money used to fix potholes, according to a briefing released to the Herald under the Official Information Act.

An overarching goal of the plan had been to reduce the amount of driving and thereby emissions - officials had said projects that would increase emissions would not necessarily be axed, but face a “high threshold” to get funding.

However, that was now up in the air after Wood’s most recent statement that indicated building greater resilience into the roading network would need to be prioritised following Cyclone Gabrielle.