Cyclone: Tairāwhiti farmers, growers to get funded

Photo: Uawa Civil Defence.

The government is announcing $100,000 of funding support for Tairāwhiti farmers and growers impacted by Cyclone Hale.

Rural Communities Minister Damien O'Connor says some farmers would face many months of work to get back on track due to the flood damage on their properties.

There was woody debris on farms, hill slippage, road closures and damage to culverts, farm tracks and other infrastructure, says O'Connor.

"The effects of Cyclone Hale follow hard on the heels of other recent storm clean ups in the region, compounding stresses for those involved.

"It's important to help those farmers and growers now facing a big clean-up effort after the storm dumped over 200mm of rain over 24 hours in some parts of the district."

The Ministry for Primary Industries would work with adverse event networks and sector groups to monitor the storm's impact and determine how the funding would be allocated.

"We will continue to assess whether further support is needed, such as Enhanced Taskforce Green for clean up, as the full extent of the storm damage becomes more apparent over the coming weeks."

In addition to that funding, Inland Revenue has activated its Adverse Event Income Equalisation Scheme for the Gisborne District, he says.

This would enable farming and forestry businesses to even out income fluctuations by spreading their gross income from year to year.

'That'll really help'

A Tairāwhiti farming leader says the support for flood-hit farmers and growers in the district was much-needed.

Federated Farmers Gisborne president Toby Williams says farmers along the coast were trying to put on a brave face, but this was the fourth time in 18 months they had been hit by severe flooding.

"People are [feeling] really, really down. We're trying to lift every body back up, that's why this funding support today, hopefully can get out by next week, you know, we can get people on farm helping clean things up, that'll really help boost a bit of morale."

Some farmers were expected to come under financial strain due to the cost of undertaking flood repairs at a time when incomes were being dented by lower commodity prices, he says.

"Rural Support Trusts will be there helping out people as they need it."

Williams says Associate Agriculture Minister Meka Whaitiri would be visiting some badly damaged farms near Tolaga Bay on Friday.

He expected she would report back to officials with her observations on the challenges facing farmers and what other support the government could provide.

- RNZ.

2 comments

Ironic

Posted on 14-01-2023 07:46 | By Johnney

Forestry gets away with this pollution when farmers are always blamed for river pollution. Now they want to revert farms to forestry, many of which are foreigned owned. I think we needs serious rethink on strategies here.


name

Posted on 14-01-2023 08:19 | By dumbkof2

can someone please tell me when gisbourne officially changed its name


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