New Zealand needs a national response to climate change adaptation challenges, "not just bespoke responses where councils go off and do their own thing", the Prime Minister says.
The statement came after Christopher Luxon confirmed yesterday he was unaware of a failed $132.5 million bid to Treasury for local authorities to buy up at-risk South Dunedin properties.
Mr Luxon, who was in Dunedin yesterday to thank those who played a part in the response to last week’s severe weather event, acknowledged it was a "tough time for the people of Otago".
The weather resulted in 11 homes being red-stickered, meaning they were unsafe to occupy, and "huge amounts" of livestock and lambs being lost.
A climate adaptation framework needed to be put in place for the whole of New Zealand, he said.
It needed to be multi-generational, acknowledge the many stakeholders involved and was something councils would have to take some responsibility for.
"That's why we're going to try and do a climate adaptation framework, to try and keep political support for it in a bipartisan way."
The government was "very up" for making city and regional deals.
But conversations between central and local governments should to be two-way, he said.
"We need a national system response here, not just bespoke responses where councils go off and do their own thing.
"We want that to be, genuinely, a partnership and a join-up between central and local government and other stakeholders."
The Dunedin City Council learned earlier this year its bid for $132.5 million from the Treasury’s National Resilience Plan to buy at-risk properties or sites to convert into flood mitigation systems in South Dunedin would not go ahead.
When asked about the rejected proposal by media, Mr Luxon said he had not seen advice on the matter and was "not aware of that".
"We can look into the details and talk more about it, 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."
"That's what's important here, is that we keep getting better at the responses and keep moving forward."
Other regions in Otago affected by the flooding needed to have access to the same level of support that Dunedin had, either through the Ministry for Social Development or Ministry for Primary Industries.
The broader regional response to the flooding had been "very impressive" and he had heard that teams had listened to farmers and heeded local knowledge in order to inform their decision-making.
"I'm sure there's lots of things that we can improve and there will be time for an after-action review, but I have to say I think the response has been exceptional."
In his trip to Dunedin yesterday, Mr Luxon visited pump stations at Portobello Rd and Musselburgh.
He talked to workers about the city’s stormwater system and other Three Waters assets.
"As you know, Three Waters is a major issue for New Zealand", Mr Luxon told media later.
"We've got major infrastructure challenges on Three Waters."
Yesterday afternoon, Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell told RNZ the Dunedin City Council would do its own appraisal of the city’s 11 red-stickered properties, "decide what the best steps are to move forward and I'm sure that they'll come and have a conversation with us then".
He accepted buyouts had been offered to people with red-stickered properties after Cyclone Gabrielle, but the government was not even close to having those conversations for Dunedin.
"We're going to do everything that we can and should do to support the council and the people of Dunedin, that is the right thing to do, but we haven't reached the stage yet.
"The properties that are currently red-stickered have been done so because there was risks of slips, or there have been slips, and of course the council will now be going through a process of evaluating whether or not mitigation work can be done, whether those people can return to their homes or whether or not we have to look at a categorisation and buy-out scheme", Mr Mitchell said.
A city council spokesman said water conservation notices for Waikouaiti (including Hawksbury and Karitane) and Otago Peninsula had been lifted.
Level 1 water restrictions remained in place for Outram, and the precautionary boil water notice remained in place for West Harbour — Ravensbourne, Maia, Roseneath, Port Chalmers, Deborah, Careys, and Sawyers Bays, but not St Leonards, which is supplied from a different reservoir.
Residents in all of these areas, including St Leonards, should continue to conserve water for now, the spokesman said.
