Ōmāhu Marae in Hawke's Bay Photo: Lauren Crimp / RNZ
A group of Hawke's Bay hapū are calling for the knowledge of Māori communities to be at the forefront of emergency management plans.
An independent review into the Hawke's Bay Civil Defence's response to Cyclone Gabrielle found their engagement with Māori communities "was more a matter of ad hoc relationships than the product of systematic and formalised effort".
The review suggested Civil Defence "deepen engagement with local marae and Māori communities for preparedness, response and recovery planning, including shared scenario training for event types".
It also recommended ensuring marae were utilised as distribution and welfare hubs throughout the region and that they were supplied with current action plans.
When floods threatened the Ōmāhu community during Cyclone Gabrielle, hapū, marae and community members organised themselves straight away to find vulnerable whānau and evacuate those in need, said Mehiana Watson, the chair of Ngāti Hinemanu, Ngāi Te Upokoiri me ona Piringa Hapū Authority Trust (Te Piringa Hapū).
"Our community members didn't hesitate to help and physically carried tamariki and kaumātua through deep flood waters to safety [at] sites south of the Ōmāhu bridge and hilltops along State Highway 50," he said.
Hapū and marae must be involved as Civil Defence overhauls its processes, he said.
"Civil Defence and Emergency Management has said that they will undertake a complete overhaul of how we approach emergency management in Hawke's Bay and it is imperative the expertise of mana whenua, in particularly hapū and marae that are on the ground and in the frontline in this area be included in this process.
"Te Piringa Hapū still remains on the frontline, providing support, provision and advice to individuals and whānau that remain displaced after the events. We want to impress on Hawke's Bay CDEM that the more we share the burden, the lighter the responsibility, and the better we will all be able to respond."
Te Piringa Hapū has written to the Minister for Emergency Management and Recovery, Mark Mitchell, asking him to ensure officials consider their 10-year recovery plan, Watson said.
The hapū's Utaina 10-year recovery plan includes principles for recovery that prioritise devolution of resources to ensure 'hapū-led, Crown-enabled' response plans and data informed decision making.
"No one wants to see a repeat of the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle and we know our plan can help ensure that doesn't happen," Watson said.
Te Piringa Hapū acting general manager Renata Hakiwai said hapū saw a need to plan for a marathon recovery.
Some long-term direction over the next 10 years was needed to help the community recover and inform the government, he said.
"Everything in that plan is actually informed by our community, by our hapū, it's not airy fairy stuff that sounds nice. It's actually all driven by our community and our people and so we thought we need a plan, we need some clear directions so we know where we are going."
The hapū welcomed the independent review although they weren't surprised at its outcome, Hakiwai said.
"I really welcome the review and really welcome officials to really take a look at it, turn the model upside down and look how you can actually work closely with mana whenua, not necessarily centralised organisations, those hapū on the ground on the front-line."
