Ministerial Statements — Cyclone Gita—Assistance for Affected Countries

I wish to make a ministerial statement. In the early hours of Tuesday morning, tropical cyclone Gita made landfall in Tonga, causing significant damage to homes, livelihoods, and infrastructure. It also impacted on the islands of the southern group of Fiji on Tuesday, with reporting from damage assessments expected over the course of the day. Prior to this, Gita caused widespread flooding in Samoa. Sadly, there has now been one confirmed fatality and some people have been injured.

Whenever disaster strikes in the Pacific, New Zealand is on hand to help. Our Pacific neighbours know they can turn to us in times of need, and New Zealanders can feel that we have done all we can in our response to date.

We remain in close contact with the Samoan authorities, and have made initial funding of $50,000 available, which is being used to support damage assessments as well as relief for flood-affected families, including those that remain in evacuation centres. Our high commission in Apia is working with local authorities and NGO partners to distribute New Zealand’s pre-positioned relief supplies.

In Tonga, where the destruction is more severe and widespread, I want to thank the Minister of Foreign Affairs for making initial funding of $750,000 available before the cyclone even reached landfall. It has delivered over 10 tonnes of aid, including 1,000 tarpaulins, 200 shelter tool kits, 500 family hygiene kits, and 2,300 water containers to meet immediate needs. We’ve also deployed a 10-person team of experts from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the New Zealand Defence Force, the Ministry of Health, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand to assist with the coordination of New Zealand support and to continue needs assessments. The New Zealand Defence Force carried out aerial surveillance yesterday and collected imagery to assist the Tongan Government with damage assessments.

I want to acknowledge the leadership of the Governments of Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji in responding to this natural disaster. We remain in close contact with Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji authorities to determine how we can provide further support and work collaboratively into the future. In the meantime, our thoughts are with all of those who have been affected.

Thank you. On behalf of the National Party, I’d like to join the Prime Minister in acknowledging the uncertainty many of our Pacific neighbours are facing in the wake of Cyclone Gita and also to affirm our support for the Government’s humanitarian responses. Our thoughts, and the thoughts of all New Zealanders, are with those people across Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji who are injured or displaced and those who are now looking ahead to how they rebuild their homes and their lives.

Disasters of this type are now all too regular an occurrence, and I could only suggest that infrastructure resilience becomes a priority for New Zealand aid and development in the Pacific. Equally, a more speedy process for biosecurity approvals on produce imports from the Islands may assist these economies in the recovery that their people must now begin. We also extend our thoughts to those here in New Zealand with families in Gita’s path, who are still waiting for communications that are yet to be restored with communities across the Pacific.

As the Prime Minister expressed, New Zealand has a longstanding history of being on hand to help when the Pacific is challenged by natural disasters. We encourage that support and that tangible help. I’d like to pay tribute to the staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand Defence Force, the Ministry of Health, and Fire and Emergency New Zealand who are working alongside their Pacific colleagues to coordinate and deliver support to communities that need it. Our best wishes are with them.

On behalf of the Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, I extend our sympathies and support to the people of Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji in the wake of Cyclone Gita. The Green Party welcomes the Government’s quick response to provide relief aid to help in the clean-up and recovery, and we will back further support as the full extent of the damage and loss becomes clearer.

The images of destruction that we have seen from Tonga are truly heartbreaking. It is almost impossible to comprehend what it’s like to be caught up in such a ferocious storm, with Gita carrying winds of nearly 280 kilometres an hour. It’s an absolute credit to the authorities and to the emergency teams in Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, as well as the people of those nations, that they saw the danger coming and prepared as best they could. But in the face of a category 4 or category 5 cyclone, there is only so much they can do. So, once again, our hearts do go out to our friends in Tonga, Samoa, and Fiji, those with whom we have such close ties, and we also want to extend our support to family members here in New Zealand, who have been watching and worrying from so far away. Rest assured the Green members of this Government will provide our support to ensure that our friends and neighbours who are caught in the path of Cyclone Gita will have the help that they need.

In my capacity as Minister for Climate Change in a Government that has clearly stated its commitment to meeting the challenges of climate change, can I say that the tragic destruction that we have witnessed in Tonga, the extensive flooding that Cyclone Gita left in Samoa, and the expected damage in the south of Fiji only strengthens our resolve to do what New Zealand can to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that are contributing to the frequency and severity of these kinds of extreme weather events. We have a responsibility to our whānau in the Pacific, who live in such vulnerable environments, as Cyclone Gita has once again demonstrated, to show leadership on climate change, and to show the determination and action that other countries can follow. But, of course, the immediate challenge and the focus must be on the clean-up, recovery, and rebuild, and our hearts go out to those in the Islands.