New Zealand to use Queensland model for disaster recovery

The New Zealand Government will establish their Cyclone Recovery Taskforce modelled on the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) in response to the extensive damage caused by Cyclone Gabrielle.

The taskforce is central to New Zealand’s approach to its longer-term recovery, with Prime Minister Chris Hipkins saying it will be structured similarly to the Queensland arrangement.

The Cyclone Recovery Taskforce will report directly to the New Zealand government’s Extreme Weather Recovery Committee and will manage an initial NZ$50 million support package for businesses, farmers and growers, as well as injecting an extra NZ$250 million to help councils fix roads, get transport links back up and access into communities.

The New Zealand Government is expecting the cost recovery from Cyclone Gabrielle to be equivalent to the Canterbury earthquakes in 2011, which was NZ$13 billion. 

While in its early stages, there is speculation in New Zealand that the taskforce may well become a permanent authority to develop resilience programs to protect communities and businesses from future natural disasters.

Likewise, the QRA started as a temporary entity in 2011 and became a permanent state body in 2015.

With Queensland being the most disaster hit state in Australia with more than 100 events in the past decade, the QRA has managed a recovery and reconstruction program in excess of $22 billion.

Over more than 10 years, the QRA has successfully coordinated action to improve the resilience of Queensland communities and facilitate locally-led disaster recovery.

With the New Zealand Government pointing to the QRA as the model for disaster recovery, the work and structure of the QRA has piqued the interest of the New Zealand media and community.

Acting CEO Jimmy Scott spoke to Newsroom NZ recently on how the QRA operates as a central disaster recovery organisation across Queensland: www.newsroom.co.nz/the-case-for-an-nz-reconstruction-authority