1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,840
Speaker 1: Government responds to the weather of the past week or

2
00:00:01,880 --> 00:00:03,520
Speaker 1: so one point two million, Then you've got a million

3
00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:05,920
Speaker 1: to reimburse Mariah. The big stuff comes out of existing

4
00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:08,760
Speaker 1: budgets and various government agencies. Chris Pink got a new job.

5
00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,080
Speaker 1: He's appointed Associate Minister for Emergency Management and he is

6
00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,000
Speaker 1: with us. Very good morning to you morning Mike. Two

7
00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:17,800
Speaker 1: separate things here. One, the mount is a tragedy. Now

8
00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:21,000
Speaker 1: I see that as an individual event. The wider weather

9
00:00:21,040 --> 00:00:23,040
Speaker 1: picture of the last week or so. If you're just

10
00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:25,480
Speaker 1: tossing a couple of millionaire, it doesn't seem that bigger deal.

11
00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:26,319
Speaker 1: Is that fair or not?

12
00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:29,960
Speaker 2: Well, there is a bigger picture, yes, But the other

13
00:00:29,960 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 2: bigger picture is that there's a lot of money that

14
00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:34,480
Speaker 2: the government's been spending through various avenues over the last

15
00:00:34,479 --> 00:00:39,040
Speaker 2: couple of years and flood resilience, road infrastructure for resilience,

16
00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:41,559
Speaker 2: and a lot of work that's going on business as

17
00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,720
Speaker 2: usual and preparing for the fact that this is a

18
00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,519
Speaker 2: new reality. So it's not about saying, well, there's only

19
00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,919
Speaker 2: a small amount for this particular incident and not Mungmonuy

20
00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:52,479
Speaker 2: and then around the country. But also worth noticing this

21
00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,320
Speaker 2: is an initial way of getting some cash flowing into

22
00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,080
Speaker 2: the coffers of those who have already been spending that.

23
00:00:58,320 --> 00:00:59,680
Speaker 2: So it's a start, not the end.

24
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,520
Speaker 1: No, I take your point the contingency fund line, though.

25
00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,040
Speaker 1: What the impression I got from Nicola, particularly yesterday is

26
00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:09,720
Speaker 1: we're a very isolated country, very vulnerable weatherwise. We're just

27
00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,480
Speaker 1: going to get smashed and keep mopping it up because

28
00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:15,280
Speaker 1: we've got a contingency fund. Is that the government's view, No,

29
00:01:15,400 --> 00:01:16,000
Speaker 1: I don't think so.

30
00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,800
Speaker 2: I mean, Nicola will speak more authoritatively on the our

31
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 2: finance side, but I know that we are very mindful

32
00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:24,360
Speaker 2: of the government, including works at Climate Change Minister Simon

33
00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:27,160
Speaker 2: Wattson's leading that we need to have a coherent way

34
00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:29,600
Speaker 2: of dealing with these things. We can't pay everyone out

35
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,399
Speaker 2: all the things, all the time, whether they're insured or not,

36
00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:34,680
Speaker 2: until the money runs out and then there is nothing.

37
00:01:34,720 --> 00:01:36,400
Speaker 2: So we need to be mindful. But we're trying to

38
00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,399
Speaker 2: be really focused and targeted in the immediate after us

39
00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:41,760
Speaker 2: in the recovery phase, so once we move from the

40
00:01:41,800 --> 00:01:45,280
Speaker 2: response of literally seeking to recover body. So that's the

41
00:01:45,319 --> 00:01:46,119
Speaker 2: weak that we're doing.

42
00:01:46,000 --> 00:01:48,840
Speaker 1: Now the inquiry. Just to touch on the mount briefly,

43
00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:54,000
Speaker 1: are you doing it because that's what governments do, whether

44
00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,480
Speaker 1: there's an answer or not, or do you think there's

45
00:01:57,520 --> 00:01:59,800
Speaker 1: an answer there and you just need to flush that out.

46
00:02:01,240 --> 00:02:03,800
Speaker 2: Well, we need to find the facts and learn the lessons,

47
00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:06,520
Speaker 2: So that's why we're doing it. Obviously, it's pretty standard

48
00:02:06,560 --> 00:02:09,080
Speaker 2: practice for a government to conduct an inquiry into an

49
00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:12,520
Speaker 2: event that is both high stakes but also low information.

50
00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,640
Speaker 2: Obviously a lot of emotion involved, quite understandably following a

51
00:02:15,680 --> 00:02:18,720
Speaker 2: tragedy in a fast moving situation. So we just need

52
00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:20,760
Speaker 2: to really lock some of that down because otherwise the

53
00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:25,839
Speaker 2: lessons that will learn in terms of avoiding preventable disasters

54
00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:28,239
Speaker 2: going forward won't be worth the papers they're written on

55
00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:31,800
Speaker 2: if we don't understand exactly what happens in those fateful

56
00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:32,400
Speaker 2: few days.

57
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:34,760
Speaker 1: As the bigger picture. As regards to the bigger picture,

58
00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:36,600
Speaker 1: when do we get something around that. It's just maybe

59
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:38,880
Speaker 1: I'm a lone voice on this. I just don't see

60
00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:41,600
Speaker 1: us being able to afford the endless putting back together

61
00:02:41,680 --> 00:02:44,680
Speaker 1: of small state highways and bridges forever because as where we're.

62
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:47,120
Speaker 2: Going, yeah, I don't have a time frame on the

63
00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:49,639
Speaker 2: bigger picture, but in truth, I think it will continue

64
00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,200
Speaker 2: to evolve for a while, but certainly the government is

65
00:02:52,240 --> 00:02:56,880
Speaker 2: determined to learn lessons from what's played out locally around

66
00:02:57,000 --> 00:02:59,280
Speaker 2: the North Island in the last couple of weeks and

67
00:02:59,360 --> 00:03:01,520
Speaker 2: that's part of a contribution to the bigger picture. So

68
00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,480
Speaker 2: that will help us refine our understanding of what good

69
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,360
Speaker 2: recovery looks like and then of course what resilience look like.

70
00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,320
Speaker 2: And we're the responsibility live between central local government communities

71
00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,679
Speaker 2: in including the insurance picture of course.

72
00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:16,440
Speaker 1: Exactly appreciate your time, Chris Pink, who's the Associate Minister

73
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,600
Speaker 1: for Emergency Management see FID Farmers want Plan B State

74
00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:21,600
Speaker 1: Highway too. We talk of the WI worker Gordge. They

75
00:03:21,639 --> 00:03:24,240
Speaker 1: said we need Plan B for more from the Mic

76
00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:25,120
Speaker 1: Asking Breakfast.

77
00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:26,760
Speaker 2: Listen live to news talks.

78
00:03:26,760 --> 00:03:29,960
Speaker 1: It'd be from six am weekdays, or follow the podcast

79
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:30,880
Speaker 1: on iHeartRadio.