Destruction in Otago from flooding and heavy rain is "devastating", the Prime Minister says, but he was unaware of a proposal to government that was turned down this year, and had aimed to prevent flood risks at low-lying houses in South Dunedin.
Christopher Luxon and the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery Mark Mitchell talked to media from Dunedin early on Monday afternoon, after meeting with local authorities and visiting affected residents.
The number of houses that have been red-stickered has now risen to 11, Luxon said.
"The devastation is real - whether it be 11 families who've got red-stickered properties at the moment, whether it be farmers that've lost huge amounts of livestock and land.
"And obviously some challenges with respect to the roading infrastructure and network, with slips and other things impacting properties and roads ...it's been a difficult time."
Asked about a $132 million proposal from Dunedin City Council to central government to buy out homeowners at risk low-lying parts of Dunedin which had been turned down, Luxon said he had not been advised on it, and Mitchell said he would need to check the details.
Homes in south Dunedin surrounded by water, on Friday. Photo: Nathan Mckinnon/RNZ
The council took the plan to the previous government just before last year's election, as a result of flooding in the city in 2015, but was told earlier this year that it had been rejected.
"I haven't seen advice on that and I am not aware of that," Luxon said "... but for right now what we're focused on is the response to the immediate events that happened, not in 2015, but what happened this time round.
"And as you saw there was a huge quantity of water - not uncomparable to 2015 from what I understand - and yet the response was handled in a much better way and with a much better response."
Luxon thanked the regional emergency management response teams, local infrastructure workers, emergency responders and everyone who had stepped up to help their neighbours out during the storm and flooding: "Teams worked together incredibly well ... the regional response was very impressive."
Support would continue through the Ministry for Primary Industries and Ministry of Social Development, he said.
Mitchell said the damage to the red-stickered homes was mostly as a result of slips, and each property was being investigated to see if it would be possible for work to be carried out to make them safe to live in again.
Asked if government would consider funding to buy-out homeowners in low-lying parts of Dunedin, Luxon said extreme weather events and three waters infrastructure challenges were not just affecting Dunedin, but were a national issue.
Dunedin's Surrey Street during last week's floods. Photo: Otago Daily Times / Debbie Porteous
"Importantly for us on events like this we also need to start to think about climate adaptation and actually how we're going to deal with all of those issues across the country - they are difficult issues," Luxon said.
"We need a national system response here, not just bespoke responses where councils go off and do their own thing."
He wants to see local councils and political parties work together in a bi-partisan way on long-term solutions to climate vulnerabilities, and said minister Simon Watts was working to create a framework as part of climate strategy.
"We've got a plan called Local Water Done Well, we're working our way through with councils to make sure that we can work together to have the capacity to finance investments that are needed going forward," Luxon said.
"We're saying lets get a common NZ inc approach on this, and not make it a political issue.
Today the cleanup gets underway in earnest, Dunedin mayor Jules Radich told Morning Report today, as Monday was the first working day after last week's events.
Hospital protests continue
Before the media stand-up, Christopher Luxon was met at Dunedin Airport by a group of about 20 people protesting the government's plans to downgrade the region's new hospital.
Protester Paul Campbell - who waited for the PM outside Civil Defence headquarters - said Luxon had broken promises.
"The prime minister.. said, 'Trust us' before the election. He said they would build a better hospital than Labour was promising. And obviously we can't trust Luxon, we can't trust National."
Today, Luxon acknowledged the frustrations of Dunedin residents.
He has blamed the previous government for handing his government a series of cost creeps and scope creeps, including the iREX ferries, school buildings, and the hospital.
"I fully understand the frustration, it's also frustrating for a government that has been in power for 10 months inheriting this mess as well," he said.
"We're not building the most expensive hospital in the Southern Hemisphere at $3 billion New Zealand dollars, but we're going to build a great hospital for $2b."
Dunedin feels like 'appendage to the North Island' - Otago MP
Meanwhile, Labour MP for Taieri Ingrid Leary said Dunedin was getting left behind when it comes to investment in infrastructure.
Leary told Midday Report she was frustrated the government had turned down the buy-out plan for flood-prone South Dunedin properties.
Ingrid Leary said it had been a hard week with the rain and the scaling back of the Dunedin Hospital re-development,
"We feel like we are an appendage to the North Island under this government. So we really wanna feel some love and we need some support.
"Right now would be a very good time for the government to come up with a good relief package, but also to look at the investment into the area, rather than just paying for a clean-up.
"Let's get ahead of the curve so we can avoid clean-ups in future."
SH87 about to reopen, long delays on SH88
People travelling on State Highway 88, a main thoroughfare for Dunedin city, should expect long delays, as work is being done to make the road safe and assess damage from the floods, Waka Kotahi said.
Traffic controls are in place, and there would be up to 30 minute delays at the Parry Street rockfall site from Monday through Wednesday, from 9am to 4pm, as contractors were doing assessments and scaling work.
Investigations were also underway at the large Burkes Drive slip to understand the extent of damage there.
And the remaining closed stretch of State Highway 87 north of Dunedin, between Kyeburn and Hyde, was expected to re-open on Monday afternoon, with a temporary road surface in place.
