Category: Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

The Children’s Commissioner says it is unacceptable a young student was denied boarding buses to school after she mistakenly left her wallet at home.

The schoolgirl’s plight was highlighted last week by the girl’s grandmother who said the 11-year-old was left in tears and traumatised.

She said by the time the student realised she was without her wallet, home was 20 minutes away and school was at least an hour’s walk away.

The grandmother, who said she was left “really angry and upset” about what happened to her granddaughter, said two public buses would not take the student.

“You know, she’s an 11-year-old child, she’s trying to get up to school on time,” she told RNZ last week.

“We have taught our children that they can trust adults and that good adults will help them.”

Now, the Children’s Commissioner says it’s not right what happened to the student.

“This caught my attention because I assume it was really upsetting for this 11-year-old and stressful for them,” Claire Achmad told RNZ.

“No child should be left behind, as Auckland Transport has acknowledged, and I really don’t think what occurred in this situation was acceptable.”

The Commissioner said she wanted to understand what policies were in place and would be taking an active interest in what happened next.

Auckland Transport told RNZ last week its expectation was no child should be left behind as the girl was, and it had contacted bus operator Kinetic.

“I think it’s good that Auckland Transport has owned this,” Achmad said.

“I do think that’s a positive outcome because that’s Auckland Transport sending a clear message that situations like this should be avoided,” she added.

“No child should be left behind when they’re trying to get to school in a situation like this and transport providers have a responsibility to ensure that children are not put in harm’s way.”

Achmad said she hoped all drivers were aware of what she said were responsibilities to look out for children and young people.

“This situation is just not on what has occurred here… And so I do expect better, I hope that we will continue to see better,” the Commissioner said.

“I am mindful that thousands of children and young people around the country do use public transport every day to go to school and often without issue, so I really hope that we don’t see more situations like this occurring and I think if drivers and others who provide services for children and young people get the clear message that they have a role to play to value and respect children, support them to be safe and well in our communities and getting to where they need… Then I think that’s good for children and young people in our country,” she said.

The Children’s Commissioner said she has separately been calling for heavily subsidised or free public transport so children can get to school during the fuel crisis.

Bus operator Kinetic told RNZ last week it was looking into what happened, but did not have anything further to add at that time.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

New Zealand’s best stone skimmers will have the chance to show off their talents on the shores of Wānaka’s Lake Hāwea on Saturday.

Organiser of the Aotearoa Stone Skimming Championship, Richie Laming, told First Up the lake was a perfect spot for the event at 400m deep with some “lovely Otago stones just made for skimming”.

Laming said money raised by the event would be going to Melanoma NZ.

“Everyone can remember their best skim, but they can’t always remember their distance,” Lamming said, encouraging everyone to come down and give it a go in the open male and female championships.

He said cheating was not a worry for the event as following a cheating scandal at the world stone skimming champs in 2025, a robust anit-cheating framework had been put in place.

“Competitors on the day will select their stones from the shores of Lake Hāwea under the scrutinising eye of “Taskforce Skim” marshals. They have an hour to collect their stones and then they won’t see those stones again until, so there’s no chance of tampering with those stones.”

Laming was very clear the championships was for skimming stones rather than skipping them.

Skimming accounts for the distance, skipping is how many times it interacts with the water. The skimming technique had a lot of different features to it – one important element is how much rotation you actually put on the stone.”

Laming said there were a lot of men out there who considered themselves “worthy skimmers” but he believed there was a “finesse” to the female technique.

“I’m excited to see the match up and see the winning distances for open female and male.”

Working out what the distances were and who were the winners was a complex system, Laming said, which involved “Taskforce Skim” on the land, along with a GPS marked lane system with buoys on the lake.

There was also a team from Southern Land Development Consultants, who were a surveying firm in Wānaka, who would be triangulating the distance of the throws, Laming said, and a team of videographers who would “provide aerial support”.

“So we’ve got a three-way verification system. potentially making it one of the more robust skim measuring teams in the world.”

Bad weather wouldn’t be an issue on Saturday, Laming said, as New Zealand didn’t want to be known as a nation of “fair-weather skimmers”.

“If there’s a slight ripple on the water you might need to be careful with your stone selection… but we will make a call on Thursday. We actually have a back-up location which guarantees calm conditions.”

Laming said there was one key change between the two locations – on the lake, it was the best of three throws, but on the back-up location, which was a custom built pond, it would be the cumulative of three throws.

“No body of water’s the same, no stone’s the same…. can you adjust? That’s what’s going to dictate a true champion for New Zealand.”

Details for the competition could be found on the Aotearoa Stone Skimming Championship website.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Former Police Commissioner Andrew Coster told the chair of the police watchdog that a woman who was accusing Jevon McSkimming of sexual offending had “effectively acknowledged her desire to ruin his career”.

In the letter, obtained by RNZ, Coster said the disgraced former Deputy Police Commissioner was “highly remorseful” for having an affair and had “owned it publicly” in his church community.

The letter was first revealed in a scathing report by the Independent Police Conduct Authority (IPCA) into how police handled allegations of sexual offending by McSkimming relating to a woman he had an affair with.

The IPCA’s report said the letter was sent by Coster to the chair of the IPCA, Judge Kenneth Johnston KC, on 22 October 2024, just over a week after the IPCA informed police they were doing an independent investigation into the woman’s allegations.

RNZ has obtained a copy of the letter under the Official Information Act.

Do you know more? Email sam.sherwood@rnz.co.nz

The letter begins with Coster saying he was writing to “formally express my concerns” about the chain of events leading up to the launching of an independent investigation by the IPCA into McSkimming and “its potential impact” on McSkimming’s career.

“My primary concern relates to the Authority’s decision to commence an investigation at such a critical point in the Commissioner appointment process, given all of the circumstances of this case.”

Coster then listed 13 “key facts as I understand them”.

The first was that McSkimming had an affair with the woman, referred to as Ms Z in the IPCA’s report, “many years ago”.

“He is highly remorseful of this fact and has worked through it not only with his wife but within his (large) church community, where has owned it publicly.”

Coster also said McSkimming had declared the relationship through “multiple appointment processes”.

The former police commissioner said that following the end of the relationship Ms Z was “clearly impacted”.

“She has embarked on a persistent course of communications directed at Jevon, aimed at discrediting him. These communications have been sent far and wide over an extended period of time (to Police email addresses, politicians, media and the Authority).”

He said Ms Z had never put her name to the communications, adding that the allegations had “never been supported with information beyond the bare allegation itself”.

“The only way that Police or the Authority knows (Ms Z’s) identity is because Deputy Commissioner declared it to Police as part of expressing his concern about the course of conduct aimed at him.”

Coster also alleged that Ms Z had in communication with McSkimming “effectively acknowledged her desire to ruin his career”.

McSkimming brought a complaint of criminal harassment after exploring a “wide range of options to stop the behaviour directed at him and his family”.

Police initially tried to provide support to Ms Z through the joint Police / Health multidisciplinary Fixated Threat Assessment Unit (FTAC) using a “mental health-led approach”.

“Only when a supportive intervention failed to shift the behaviour, did Police take the step of prosecution for criminal harassment. This was not a path we embarked on lightly, given the circumstances.

“It is clearly the Police view that Jevon is the victim of the offence and that there is evidential sufficiency to prove the charge.”

Coster said that through the same period police had tasked Detective Inspector Nicola Reeves to review all of the correspondence received and then approach Ms Z to see whether any complaint would be forthcoming.

“Despite this extended history and opportunity for the Authority to set expectations of any Police investigation or commence its own investigation in this matter, it was only after receiving a request from the Public Service Commission for the interim Commissioner appointment process that the Authority decided to initiate a Category A investigation.”

In the letter, Coster said he understood the IPCA considered Police did not share all of the relevant information that it should have about some anonymous allegations made to Police 105.

However, he said the communications were “not materially different” to allegations that had been known to the IPCA for some time, and that they were made anonymously and without any information to “properly support an investigation”.

“They were made as part of a course of conduct by [Ms Z] that amounts to criminal harassment, of which Jevon is the victim.”

Coster said as a result of the investigation “belatedly commencing”, McSkimming had missed out on the opportunity to be interim Commissioner.

“Which otherwise he would have been. This will make a material difference to him in the substantive appointment process.”

The Public Service Commission (PSC) had advised McSkimming that the IPCA had indicated the investigation would take three to six months to be resolved.

“If that is the case, his name will not go forward for consideration for appointment to be the next Commissioner,” Coster said.

“All of this is occurring whilst Jevon has not been advised of the nature of the investigation against him in terms of any substantive complaint or the allegations that are being investigated. This is seems contrary to principles of natural justice. [sic]”

Coster wrote he was concerned the IPCA may “inadvertently significantly increase Jevon’s victimisation” from the “pattern of harassment” which could be “irreversible in terms of his career”.

“This is against the backdrop of an issue that has been visible for a very long time and was capable of being resolved long ago – indeed Jevon considered that it had been.

“I do understand the difficult position for the Authority in the circumstances. However, it is unfair for Jevon to suffer the consequences of this. A standard investigative approach and timeline in this situation risks a very unjust outcome.”

He said the matter needed to be resolved before the substantive appointment process reached its point of making recommendations to Ministers.

“I respect that the Authority must exercise its own judgement but I trust this background may assist. I would be happy to discuss further.”

About 20 minutes after sending the letter he forwarded a copy of it to McSkimming.

The IPCA said in its report it was “abundantly clear” the version of “facts” that Coster set out were based on what McSkimming told him.

RNZ approached a spokesperson for Coster this week for comment on the letter. They said Coster has “said all that he intends to on this matter” and referred to his earlier statements.

After resigning from his role as chief executive of the Social Investment Agency, Coster released a statement and said his resignation was “a result of my acceptance of full responsibility for the shortcomings” identified in the report.

“I regret the impact on the young woman at the centre of this matter and sincerely apologise to her for the distress caused.

“I accept that I was too ready to trust and accept at face value Deputy Commissioner McSkimming’s disclosure and explanations to me. I should have been faster and more thorough in looking into the matter.”

Coster acknowledged he should have more fully investigated the allegations when they were brought to his attention, “rather than assuming that their previous disclosure to senior Police staff a few years earlier would have resulted in an investigation if necessary”.

“It is clear that Police’s handling of the whole matter was lacking and that I was ultimately responsible for those matters. It was sobering to read of a number of missed opportunities which should have proceeded differently and more appropriately.”

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Source: Radio New Zealand

• Volunteer fire-fighter Alex Scarrow died days before Christmas rafting the Mohaka River with friends
• A Coroner says it was misadventure and has put forward recommendations for a new safety code for recreational rafting
• They were told the rafting trip turned fatal because a knife wasn’t readily accessible
• Water Safety New Zealand says it will work to increase awareness of the proposed new code

The death of a man while rafting with his mates has spurred the Coroner to put forward a new safety code for people on the water.

Farm worker and volunteer fire-fighter Alex Scarrow was 31 when he and his friends set off for their rafting trip on the Mohaka River in Hawke’s Bay.

It was December 16 2023, and Scarrow’s partner described him as outgoing, a lover of the outdoors and someone who pushed limits while having fun.

He was no stranger to the Mohaka River and had rafted for about a decade, but this trip would be his last.

Coroner Ruth Thomas’ findings released on Monday said he and his friends all set off wearing life jackets.

They also had a box of Coruba rum and a box of Wooodstock bourbon, along with cheese and crackers.

“We were just enjoying the good weather and a day off work,” the findings show one friend as saying who also said they were not intoxicated.

Their mobile phones went into a dry bag, and a carabiner was used to secure a blue plastic barrel with a lid to the raft.

One of the friends put their knife belt and a personal locator beacon inside that barrel to keep them dry.

The Coroner said the friends described the first 90 minutes of their rafting trip as fun and that everyone was happy.

After stopping for a swim, Scarrow told the group they were nearing an area that can “get quite nasty”, the Te Hoe drop.

The group paused on a shingle bank to pump up the eight seater raft and went for another swim.

‘I just woke up on the side of a rock’

The findings said one of the friends said Alex Scarrow was sitting at the back of the raft.

“I just remember going down some small rapids, I was laughing at Alex for some reason, and then I just woke up on the side of a rock, past the raft.”

They said they never saw anything coming.

The Coroner said another friend said the group was t-boned by a large boulder.

“It happened so fast I don’t think anyone expected it to happen,” that friend said.

The findings detail how all four were thrown from the seats – two were swept downstream and managed to scramble out of the river.

The water was holding the raft against a large boulder, and the remaining friend could see Scarrow’s foot was trapped by a rope attached to the raft.

His head was just above the water, and the friend tried to find something to cut the rope with.

He tried one of the alcohol cans but that did not work.

“I didn’t have any knives on me as it was in the blue dry barrel with the locator beacon inside,” the findings show the friend as saying.

“The barrel was strapped to the boat, but the lid ripped open, and all the contents washed away.”

The friend tried getting a paddle to Scarrow but he could not grab hold.

The strong current meant they also could not use the paddle to keep Scarrow’s head above the water.

The friend lost his balance and fell from the raft into the water, by which stage Scarrow had sunk lower into the water and did not look like he was fighting any further.

The friend managed to tell the others that Scarrow was stuck – they ran back upstream but could not see a safe place to launch a rescue.

The knife, mobile phones and personal locator beacon were all washed away.

One of the friends walked away from the river to get help.

A Search and Rescue team flew to the scene at 1.40am and saw the raft wrapped against a large rock in the middle of the river.

It was too unsafe to access, and in the morning a helicopter dropped local rafting guides who worked with SAR to free Scarrow’s body.

One of the guides cut the bow rope wrapped around his foot and pulled him to shore.

A pathologist said Scarrow’s blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit for driving, but added it was impossible to determine the degree of intoxication.

Expert says life could have been saved

A swiftwater rescue instructor who reviewed the evidence noted all four friends were drinking while rafting.

They noted the group all had lifejackets but that none was wearing a helmet.

There was also no other knife apart from the one that was in the blue barrel before its lid came off and its contents got washed away.

The expert said there was no evidence of a pre-launch safety briefing about capsizing, entrapment, hand signals or whistle signals.

Some of he group had rafting experience but none had swiftwater or river rescue certifications.

Scarrow was thrown in the water when the raft wrapped around the rock, and the rope tightened around his foot and stopped him getting out himself.

The expert’s opinion was the group did not show situational awareness of the prominent rock and had not formally scouted the rapid beforehand.

They also noted there was no evidence about how the bow rope had been stowed and said a well secured bowline would have significantly mitigated the risk of entrapment.

The lifejackets were a generic brand designed for marine use rather than for whitewater use, the expert said.

It meant that while the lifejackets could hold a river knife and sheath, it was “sub-optimal” because the sheath could snag on other objects.

“Had a dedicated river knife been carried on the PFD (personal floatation device) of at least one crew member it is more likely that the rope could have been cut early in the incident before the entanglement became unrecoverable,” the expert said.

“The entrapment was avoidable if the group had maintained situational awareness, and survivable in principle but became fatal due to the absence of an immediately accessible knife, and a lack of suitably trained and equipped peer rescuers.”

The Coroner said they were satisfied Scarrow could have survived if the group knew more about the hazard, had a discussion beforehand, and had a river knife on at least one of their lifejackets to cut the rope that had trapped him.

“When the lid came off this barrel they were left with no effective means to cut the rope entrapping their friend,” Coroner Ruth Thomas said.

“There is no requirement for a knife sheath and river knife to be attached to a recreational river rafter’s PFD. However, had any member of the group had a river knife attached to their PFD on that day, they would have been better equipped to try and cut the rope to free Mr Scarrow.”

Thomas said it would be a benefit to all recreational river users to be more aware of how carrying a river knife on a lifejacket could safe lives.

She also highlighted there should be at least one person unaffected by alcohol who was experienced and attuned to hazards in rivers.

“The group’s lack of situational awareness of the hazard, lack of access to a river knife, and their decision to drink alcohol while rafting are all factors that compounded and contributed to the fatal outcome,” the Coroner said.

While extending her sincere condolences, Thomas made a formal finding Scarrow drowned because of misadventure.

Code of conduct

Coroner Thomas said more safety information being publicly available could help prevent similar deaths.

There is information, but the benefits of a river knife attached to a lifejacket is not included in the list of safety equipment on the Department of Conservation website.

The expert swiftwater rescue instructor has drafted a Recreational Rafting Safety Code (see below).

The Coroner has recommended the Department of Conservation consider including a river knife on its recommended safety list.

They further recommended various groups review the proposed code and engage with each other on how to increase public awareness.

One those groups, Water Safety NZ, said it supported the code.

“The Coroner was quite clear that having access to a knife, and one of the experts, would definitely have helped instead of it being tucked away elsewhere and was lost when the accident happened,” chief executive Glen Scanlon told RNZ.

“Also having a plan for how to deal with these complicated sections in the Mohaka River, it appears there wasn’t one, although Alex himself did identify there was some rough water coming up,” he said.

Scanlon said the code that had been drafted was “a really god idea”.

“So it’s just a matter of hopefully us and some of the other organisations mentioned, the New Zealand Rivers Association, getting together and hopefully just starting it out and working a way out that we can effectively get those messages to people,” Scanlon said.

He said people needed to take such messages to heart and put them into practice.

Scanlon also expressed condolences to everyone who knew Scarrow.

The New Zealand Rivers Association responded to the Coroner that it supported the recommendation to review the draft Recreational Raft Safety Code.

The Department of Conservation responded that water safety management required coordinated actions with various parties and that it would engage with these.

Whitewater New Zealand and New Zealand Land Search and Rescue did not respond to the proposed recommendations, the Coroner said.

Recreational Rafting Safety Code

Two boats are always better than one

Always paddle with at least two boats so you have options to effect rescue and seek assistance.

Have the right skills

Make sure you have undertaken a river rescue course and can navigate the difficulty of river being paddled.

Know the skills, abilities and limitations of your group.

Have the right equipment

Ensure everyone has a PFD and helmet.

PFDs need a whistle and river knife to be complete.

Ensure you have means of emergency communication.

Every raft needs a wrap kit and rescue throw bag.

Alcohol and paddling do not mix

Be free of the effects of alcohol and drugs.

Even one drink can impair decision making in critical situations.

Have a plan and test it

Have a plan including what if things go wrong.

Each boat needs a skipper who is responsible.

Tell someone about your plan.

Have a safety briefing and practice emergency drills before you set out.

Check before you go

Check the weather forecast and river flow levels.

Make sure your raft and equipment is cleaned, dried and checked to prevent the spread of didymo and other biosecurity risks.

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Source: Radio New Zealand

A small Far North settlement could be the first place in New Zealand where an entire community relocates to higher ground to escape repeated floods.

The idea of shifting homes, or even whole towns, out of harm’s way is increasingly being touted as a solution for parts of the country worst affected by climate change.

But in Whirinaki, a settlement of a few hundred people straddling State Highway 12 in South Hokianga, managed retreat is not an abstract possibility.

Planning was already well underway when the valley was once again engulfed by floodwaters on 26 March.

A total of 65 homes were affected with nine left uninhabitable. One of those burnt to the ground a few days later in a blaze blamed on floodwater infiltrating the wiring.

One of the worst affected homes belonged to Bridget Wallace, who had only arrived home after heart surgery a day earlier.

She said she had seen bigger floods in the past, but never one that was so fast.

“Within 12 minutes, everything was underwater. We just had time to get the vehicles out. Everything was floating. And I mean everything,” she said.

“I’ve lost everything. Everything that I owned.”

When RNZ called in, Wallace had finished shovelling away a stinking layer of silt and moved back into her cabin, but her mokopuna were still sleeping in borrowed campervans.

She was philosophical about the damage.

“It’s just material things that we’ve lost. We all still together, and we’re all still alive. That’s the main thing. It’s all that matters.”

Across the road, Christine Ryder is a caregiver for her mother in a home raised on stilts after the devastating 1999 flood.

She had seen plenty of floods before so was not overly concerned about the 26 March rain at first.

However, within 20 minutes the house was surrounded by water.

“It was very, very scary. The more the rain kept coming, the more it was coming up the stairs, the more worried we were getting, because mum’s immobile.”

When they decided to evacuate it was already too late to get out.

Ryder said the water the water stopped rising just short of entering the house, but four cars were wrecked, along with lawnmowers and everything in the sheds.

She woke the next morning to find her mother’s prized rose garden, along with the rest of the property, buried under a thick layer of silt.

She and her sister shovelled the goop into piles, only to find it had spread out again by the following morning.

“We were so deflated and disheartened. But then the whānau from the kāinga [village] came with shovels and spades and wheelbarrows and got stuck in with us. A couple of diggers came in too.”

At the other end of the settlement, Shane Wikaira had also raised his home by two metres after the 1999 flood.

He could only watch as his home became an island in a mud-coloured sea.

“The rain was relentless. It just was like a war zone the next day, with logs everywhere and the debris. The cleanup was massive.”

‘Climate change is definitely upon us’

Long before the March flood, Whirinaki residents had been working on a plan to move their homes onto the hills overlooking the valley.

Chantez Connor-Kingi, of the Northland Regional Council, said the government had allocated funding some years ago for seven communities most at risk from climate change.

The pūtea [money] from the National Infrastructure Fund had helped pay for flood mitigation measures such as stopbanks, a deflection bank, a spillway and improved drainage.

However, no solution could be found for reducing flood risk in Whirinaki.

Connor-Kingi said she took that news, and detailed flood maps, to a community meeting about 18 months ago.

The locals themselves concluded managed retreat was the only answer, which she described as “courageous”.

Whirinaki man Storm Tautari was appointed to manage the hapū-led project, with his sister Ruth Tautari, a teacher and chair of the Whirinaki Trust, assisting.

Then began the search for suitable land to relocate to.

“We asked, ‘Who in this room has land on higher ground, who can move and take other people with you?'”

Several blocks of Māori land were generously offered by local whānau, Connor-Kingi said.

Some turned out to be unsuitable – one would have required the construction of a bridge so would have been too costly, while others were found to be geologically unstable – but two blocks, with space for an initial 26 homes, had so far passed the test.

Connor-Kingi said it was the vital the new homes were close to the existing settlement.

“We didn’t want to create a geographical divide, knowing that these people have been brought up there their whole lives, and they’re probably the eighth or ninth generation to the whenua. So we needed whenua where they could still feel connected to their lands and see it every day.”

Auckland-based planning firm The Urbanist was hired to draw up plans for new papakāinga housing, and the Whirinaki Trust wrote up a detailed business case.

The cost of new homes and community infrastructure, assuming 80 whānau had to be relocated, was put at $60 million.

A series of economic development initiatives, aiming to reverse the area’s high degree of deprivation, would cost another $26m.

According to the business case, about a fifth of that was expected to come from philanthropic groups and foundations, with the rest from central government.

Connor-Kingi said the Whirinaki Trust was currently in talks with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.

She said the investment made sense given the high cost of cleaning up after repeated floods.

“When you think about the amount of money you spend on recovery, our whānau wouldn’t have to endure that. You’re actually long-term saving pūtea if these flood events are coming more regularly.”

Connor-Kingi said managed retreat was not entirely new to Whirinaki.

Some residents had rebuilt on higher ground after the 1999 flood, while others had raised their homes on stilts.

However, if the entire settlement moved, that would be a first for the country.

“It’s nothing new for New Zealand to see our whānau flooded. But a total community being relocated, that would be the first of its kind. It just shows you how climate change is definitely upon us and our taiao [environment] is telling us we can no longer be in these harmful pathways.”

She said a door-to-door survey had found 43 homes and about 260 people would need to be moved off the flood plain.

‘Here since the beginning of time’

Whirinaki residents spoken to by RNZ had mixed views about moving to higher ground.

Some, like Bridget Wallace, who lost everything in the March flood, were determined to stay put.

“I’m not interested in that, I’m sorry. No way will I go move. Our tūpuna [ancestors] didn’t run away from their land,” she said.

Shane Wikaira, who had already raised his home, was also reluctant to shift.

“My grandfather was here, my great-grandfather, it goes back generations. We’ve been here, well, since Kupe came, the beginning of time. So it’s more than just land to me,” he said.

Christine Ryder doubted her mother would agree to leave her home and beloved garden.

“I think moving to high ground is a good idea. I just know mum won’t do it.”

However, Dwayne Rawiri would shift tomorrow if he could.

When RNZ visited he was moving his family cabin to a higher part of the property, out of the mud and damp, before winter set in.

“I most definitely would move, now that I’m thinking of not only myself, but I have eight children to think of. I really hope we can move up onto higher ground that we all whakapapa back to.”

Rawiri worried about the future of Whirinaki if the floods kept coming.

“I feel for everyone in our valley, I don’t see a solution for it if it happens again, I think we’re just going to have a whole community busted to be honest, maraes and all,” he said.

“I feel for our children going through this, having to live down here, and look up at the hills. We tatai [connect] to every one of the hills around here. I think that is totally the only solution for us.”

If funding can be secured, the new homes will be built off-site with earthworks starting as soon as October.

‘Long-lasting hurt, grief and fear’

Climate Change Minister Simon Watts said he recognised the disruption and damage communities suffered as a result of severe weather events, including flooding.

“The government remains committed to working with councils and local communities to determine the best way forward for people living in areas exposed to climate risks. Decisions of this nature are best made at the local level and councils have a leading role. I encourage communities to work with their local councils, and we know that’s already happening in some areas.”

Watts said the government had set up a National Adaptation Framework and was working on “an enduring system” that prepared New Zealand for the effects of climate change, while keeping costs as low as possible.

Since 2020, more than $1 billion had been invested in flood protection, including $200 million from the current government’s Regional Infrastructure Fund. The fund had supported resilience projects nationwide, including in Northland, he said.

Just last week the Climate Change Commission released a major report in which it warned climate-driven severe weather events were already causing “long-lasting hurt, grief and fear”, and tens of thousands more people could be exposed to hazards by 2050.

The commission’s chief executive, Jo Hendy, said there were “extreme” shortfalls in policy to address some of the biggest risks, including vital decisions about how to guide and pay for adaptation and relocation.

Hendy said too much money was spent cleaning up after events, instead of on proactive measures to limit damage and build community resilience.

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