Homeowners warned weather-event buyouts may cease in 20 years
Photo:
RNZ / Mark Papalii
Politicians are grappling with who should pay for damage to homes from future weather-related events - and just how much responsibility is on the government to front up.
Those already affected by severe weather events say they'd be in a tight spot, if it wasn't for government support.
On Wednesday, an independent reference group set up by the Ministry for the Environment released a suite of recommendations to help the government
shape climate adaptation legislation
.
After a 20-year transition period, homeowners whose houses are flooded or damaged by weather events should not expect buyouts, the group recommended.
The group also recommended that funding for adaptation measures, such as flood schemes, sea walls and blue-green infrastructure, should follow a 'beneficiary pays' approach in most cases.
"This would mean those who benefit most from these investments contribute more."
Central government should only invest in adaptation, if it would protect Crown assets "or where broader national benefits can be realised".
"Central government investment or other financing strategies may be appropriate to help overcome challenges in particularly vulnerable areas, where there is less ability to pay."
Acting Prime Minister David Seymour said the government would consider the recommendations, but pointed out the balance between the "very Kiwi instinct" to help people when they have misfortune and "subsidising people to buy in dangerous places".
He said it was a mistake to tell people who build "in the most dangerous place imaginable" that other people will pick up the tab.
"What's important is that we are grappling with this reality.
"There are higher costs being put onto councils and onto central government, thanks to weather events. We saw that two-and-a-half years ago in Hawke's Bay and it won't be the last time."
He said the government was approaching the issue with information and fairness, working out the balance to not leave people "high and dry".
Greens co-leader Chloe Swarbrick hit out at the government, saying climate adaptation conversations couldn't happen in isolation of its policies.
"This conversation should not be held in isolation of all the other things this government is doing to throw oil, coal and gas on the climate crisis fire," she said.
"You cannot pretend that you are making the bucket more resilient, while you are drilling more holes into it and pouring more water into it."
She referenced fast-tracking coalmines and plans to build new roads, which will contribute to greater emissions, making the adaptation challenge harder.
When it came to who paid for the weather-related damage in the future, Swarbrick said leaving the future of communities exposed by decades of government inaction up to the market wasn't good enough.
"This isn't a market failure. The climate crisis is a consequence of a trickle-down economy.
"It's not a bug, it is a feature."
The Greens were particularly concerned about the 'beneficiary pays' model. Swarbrick said, in practice, those who could afford to would have the access to move further away from the impact of climate change.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins said homeowners couldn't be left alone, and many of the issues raised by the report were due to central and local government decisions.
"We do have to accept our share of responsibility for making sure that we're preparing for these sorts of events."
When it came to flood protection, he said central government needed to play a role and particularly when it came to making sure homes could still be insured.
"That's a tricky balance, because government also doesn't want to end up becoming a default insurer either. We don't want people giving up their insurance, because they think government will just come in and sort that out."
He said the correct balance was really important and any adaptation laws needed to have bi-partisan support.
Lyall Carter is the chair of West Auckland is Flooding, a group formed after the severe 2023 Auckland Anniversary weekend floods.
He was disappointed the reference group seemed to lack input from communities affected by flooding, like Esk Valley, Motueke or Rānui.
"There's countless references throughout the last couple of years of communities that have been flooded, and I would have thought that it could have been good to have their voice in in these discussions and decision-making."
He also raised the issue of the sense of personal responsibility that came through the recommendations.
Carter said people needed good data, open and honest conversations about flood plains, and good governance around allowing developers to build on flood plains, if people were to make informed decisions.
"You can have all the personal responsibility in the world, but if you're being let down by poor governance, there's not a heck of a lot you can do about that."
Carter explained his property was not on a floodplain, but that changed within seven years of owning it.
"When we left the property, when we were brought out, the floodplain had moved to be pretty much all across our property."
He said a 20-year timeline was "arbitrary" in a lot of ways, and local and central government needed to have "open and honest" discussions with homeowners. People needed assistance to leave at-risk areas and support to transition, if changes on flood maps occurred.
Former Muriwai homeowner Caroline Bell-Booth lost her home during Cyclone Gabrielle and told Morning Report she'd be bankrupt without the council buyout of her property, because of a "multi-faceted" problem.
"You've got insurance companies who claim that your home is fully insured, but will find loopholes to climate-change issues.
"Those insurances are acquired in order for you to get a mortgage from the bank, both of whom are very happy to take your money, until there's an issue.
"Lastly, those are for homes which are being built on land that the council is happy for you to build on."
She said "everybody's very happy for you to give them money", but pointed out there was no support, when an unforeseen event took place.
"This is why I will forever be grateful to the New Zealand government and to the New Zealand taxpayer, who helped everybody in this perilous situation come through, not unscathed, but not completely financially ruined as a result of a situation in which they were victims."
She said, if a government implemented a change with no safety net in 20 years time, it must also look to other parties that theoretically should be there to help.
She also questioned whether any government implement these recommendations was also doing everything it could to mitigate against the effects of climate change.
Buller District Mayor Jamie Cleine was overseeing a plan to eventually
relocate the flood-prone town of Westport
.
He said he could understand why the government was cautious about setting a precedent around buyouts.
"In Buller's case, buyouts for properties right from our 2021 floods were never on the table, but that's a long way short of the government leaving the community on its own."
The council adopted a broader approach to how climate change or hazard risk was addressed over time, creating a body of work that included "forward-thinking masterplanning work" around where growth should happen.
"Where is it just not the right place to keep building and, if you are going to build in the interim, how do you ensure that you're mitigating that risk by building finished floor heights at appropriate levels and things like that."
He said it was most important that the "government walks alongside, particularly smaller communities to help fund those parts of the puzzle" and "buy communities some time to do that adaptation".
Hutt City Mayor Campbell Barry was glad to see a level of urgency in the report, but the issue of who paid remained.
"We are concerned around the costs that will fall on to local government, without having the funding and financing tools to be able to cater for that.
"We're the first to say that councils do need to be at the table in these conversations and how we actually implement climate adaptation, but we will be set up to fail, if we have the same funding and financing framework that we currently operate with."
He believed "foundational issues" must be addressed.
Barry acknowledged a "line in the sand" must be drawn in the future, when it came to whether the government or private landowners paid for such events.
"There probably will need to be a point in time where we say the government won't be stepping in or local councils won't be stepping in."
He said most important right now was ensuring buyers and property owners were aware of the current risks, so they could make an informed decision with "where they choose to often make their biggest investment that they'll make in their lives".
"That isn't always the case."
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