The North Island Weather Events Response and Recovery Funding reporting has ceased.
The final round of monitoring and reporting for the 2023/24 financial year has been completed and released.
The North Island Weather Events Response and Recovery Funding
In early 2023, Aotearoa New Zealand was hit by two separate extreme weather events. The Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle caused widespread catastrophic flooding across large parts of the North Island, devastating communities and businesses in affected regions. Fifteen people were killed, and thousands of people displaced from their homes. The events caused widespread damage to land, infrastructure, and services; particularly power, communications and roading.
In response, the Government announced funding to clean-up, rebuild and aid long-term recovery, as well as to support local communities with temporary accommodation, mental health services, and food security.
Allocation of funding directed towards initiatives responding to the North Island Weather Events (NIWE)
Funding directed towards the recovery or response following the North Island Weather Events included the two funding packages announced (set out below), reprioritisation within appropriations and support provided through automatic mechanisms, such as Civil Defence Payments.
The two funding packages were:
- Immediate funding decisions in the aftermath of NIWE ($883 million total operating, $1.5 million capital) to make urgent infrastructure repairs, assist with temporary accommodation, and provide business and community support.
- Budget 2023 NIWE Response and Recovery Package ($941 million total operating, $195 million capital).
Through Budget 2023, the previous government established the National Resilience Plan (NRP) and set aside $6 billion to provide funding for medium- and long-term infrastructure resilience projects. Under the last Government, $2.697 billion was allocated through Phases One and Two of the NRP, and a further $63.3 million was allocated under this Government. The balance of $3.2 billion was returned through Budget 2024.
Monitoring and reporting
Any agency which received funding directed towards initiatives responding to the NIWE was required to monitor and track spending (excluding support provided through automatic mechanisms, such as Civil Defence Payments). The Treasury collected and published quarterly NIWE expenditure data on initiatives $10 million or above, starting from the quarter ending 31 March 2023 until the quarter ending 30 June 2024.
The reporting was focused on initiative-level insights, broken down by vote, appropriation and category (if applicable). For each initiative these results showed the expenditure and performance for the year to date, alongside forecasts for the next three quarters, together with the baseline appropriation.
This approach was similar to the monitoring and reporting processes for the Climate Emergency Response Fund (CERF) and provided an additional layer of scrutiny for special purpose funding.
Monitoring and reporting has now ceased
The final NIWE report was for the quarter ending 30 June 2024. Most of the remaining forecasted NIWE expenditure is in NIWE-specific appropriations and can be tracked through standard monitoring and reporting. There is forecasted expenditure totalling $2.5 billion from 2024/25 to 2026/27. $2.4 billion (96%) of this is in NIWE-specific appropriations as listed in the table below.
The final NIWE report for the quarter ending 30 June 2024 is below.
- NIWE Quarter 4 2024 Financial results (PDF 677 KB)
- NIWE Quarter 4 2024 Performance results (PDF 215 KB)
This data can be accessed in an open-source format, alongside a data dictionary: North Island Weather Events (NIWE) Recovery and Response Funding Document Library.
| Vote | Initiative | Appropriation | Category | Total Forecast 2024/25 to 2026/27 [1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Business, Science and Innovation | Interim Response Package for Cyclone Gabrielle and January Flooding | Cyclone Gabrielle -Regional support for the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle and January 2023 weather events | 5,034,875 | |
| North Island Weather Events Primary Producer Finance Scheme | Investments through Crown-owned Companies for the North Island Weather Events Primary Producer Finance Scheme | 83,297,731 | ||
| Forestry | Continuing the removal of Woody debris as a result of the 2023 North Island Weather Events | North Island Weather Events MCA | North Island Weather Event: Cyclone Gabrielle Response and Recovery | 26,750,000 |
| Prime Minister and Cabinet | North Island Weather events - Regional and Local support | Extreme Weather Events - Regional and Local Support | 25,000,000 | |
| Cyclone Recovery Taskforce and the Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery | Extreme Weather Events All of Government Response | 13,948,000 | ||
| North Island Severe Weather events - Kaupapa Māori Pathway | Non-Departmental Other Expenses: North Island Severe Weather Events (MYA) | 74,800,000 | ||
| Future of Severely Affected Locations (FOSAL) | Non-Departmental Other Expenses: North Island Severe Weather Events (MYA) | 1,133,777,894 | ||
| North Island Severe Weather events - Administrative Services MYA | North Island Severe Weather events - Administrative Services MYA | 6,891,852 | ||
| Transport | National Resilience Plan Phase 1 - Minor Resillience | North Island Weather Events - Road Response and Reinstatement (MCA) | Minor Resilience Works | 16,036,126 |
| National Resilience Plan Phase 2 - Bailey Bridges | North Island Weather Events - Road Response and Reinstatement (MCA) | Minor Resilience Works | 3,087,120 | |
| National Resilience Plan Phase 2 - Local Road Response Costs | North Island Weather Events - Road Response and Reinstatement (MCA) | Local Road Response Costs | 30,100,000 | |
| National Resilience Plan Phase 1 - State Highway Works | North Island Weather Events - Road Response and Reinstatement (MCA) | State Highway Recovery Costs | 66,958,698 | |
| National Resilience Plan Phase 2 - Local Road Recovery Costs | North Island Weather Events - Road Response and Reinstatement (MCA) | Local Road Recovery Costs | 418,959,000 | |
| North Island Weather Events (NIWE) Road Response, Recovery and Rebuild | North Island Weather Events - State Highway Recovery (MYA) | 451,850,000 | ||
| Total | 2,356,491,296 | |||
[1] From NIWE Quarter 4 2024 data reported by agencies, released 6 November 2024. Note: A provision of $105 million was made in relation to the North Island Weather Events (NIWE) Loan Guarantee Scheme (the Scheme) which was targeted to provide relief for businesses highly impacted by the NIWE but could still receive commercial lending. Under the scheme the Crown guarantees 80% of the Scheme loans provided by Approved Lenders to eligible businesses. Loans under the Scheme would be supported for up to 5 years from date of issue. The Scheme concluded on 30 June 2024 with Scheme loans no longer available. Further detail on this Scheme is available here North Island Weather Events Loan Guarantee Scheme. The Summary of Provisions note in Treasury’s 2023/24 Annual Report contains details of the initial provision. Future movements to this provision will be available in the Summary of Provisions notes in future Treasury Annual Reports. | ||||