Morgan Godfery: Marae are an integral part of our civil defence infrastructure

Wednesday, 8 March 2023

In a remarkably unscathed part of Wairoa, Hinemihi marae deals with those who have lost everything with aroha and precision.

Morgan Godfery is a senior lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington. He has a background in journalism and public policy, including as a parliamentary staffer for former Labour MP Parekura Horomia. He is a regular opinion contributor to Stuff.

OPINION: Last week two of the Government’s senior ministers, Willie Jackson and Peeni Henare, made a modest announcement at a marae outside Hastings: the Government would, they said, release $15 million in funding for Māori communities responding to Cyclone Gabrielle.

In an ordinary year that announcement might pass without much scrutiny. Government expenditure exceeds $100 billion per year, meaning $15m - less than 0.015% of government expenditure - is a mere footnote. But this is an extraordinary year. In weather and climate, yes, but also in politics. The election is only seven months away and the opposition parties are committed to making “co-governance” a thing.

With that in mind the Opposition’s chief surrogate, Mike Hosking, made quick work of the announcement, criticising it as “race-based flood funding” and asking “does the rain fall differently on Māori? Does a flood affect you differently depending on your race?”

* Cyclone Gabrielle: Parts of Hawke's Bay still vulnerable as bad weather continues

* Māori communities impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle receive $15m in support

A hive of post-cyclone activity at Hinemihi Marae, in a relatively unscathed part of Wairoa.

* Concerns for Māori and disabled as state of emergency declared in Northland

Morgan Godfery: The “marae operating as disaster response facilities are simply doing the work of supporting whoever needs support”.

It’s worth taking Hosking’s complaint seriously. Of course flooding impacts different people in different ways.

Farmers and growers are removing up to a metre of silt from their paddocks and vines. Townies are, at a risk of stating the obvious, not. In recognition of that difference - farmers and growers are dealing with different consequences - the Government is releasing financial support for the clean-up on farms, vineyards, and other horticultural properties. Is that a problem? Is that “rural privilege” or does only so-called Māori privilege count?

Hosking’s complaint collapses upon even the lightest interrogation. Cyclones are hardly uniform events that alter their course or their impact according to our requests or our preferences. Instead, they hit according to their own laws and they exacerbate already existing inequalities and vulnerabilities.

Damp possessions are dried out at the Puketawai Marae at Tolaga Bay after Cyclone Gabrielle swept through.

New Zealand’s most fertile pastures often correspond to former wetlands or riverbeds, meaning some of the largest or most productive farms and horticultural operations occupy flood zones. In Napier, the city’s poorest suburbs are its low-lying suburbs, while its wealthiest suburbs occupy its hilltop. In other words, the poorest people are the most vulnerable to flooding and, in another statistic that maps quite cleanly, the poorest people are disproportionately Māori.

But that $15m the Government is releasing is more than simply a recognition that Māori are generally poorer and generally require greater assistance. What it is a recognition of is that Māori communities uniformly and effectively respond to local and regional disasters.

When disasters hit, often the first responders organise their communities from the local marae. The flashest marae maintain industrial kitchens capable of feeding hundreds of people, as well as communal bathrooms and sleeping quarters capable of housing dozens and sometimes hundreds of people. When displaced people enter the marae seeking food, warmth, and shelter, no-one is turned away - Pākehā, Pacific peoples, and Asian peoples are as welcome as Māori.

Increasingly, marae play a formal role in civil defence planning and disaster response. Yet they’re not resourced to do so. Instead, the people of the local marae donate food and prepare it.

The people of the local marae ensure it remains clean and tidy and that the electricity bills are paid to ensure that any displaced person can enjoy a hot shower and a warm bed.

This is the context in which that $15m in funding occurs. It’s an important government contribution to and official recognition of the work that marae - and other urban Māori authorities and iwi organisations - do in civil defence planning and disaster response.

When the Waipareira Trust vaccinated thousands of Aucklanders during the Covid-19 crisis phase, the vast majority of the people it vaccinated were non-Māori.

In this context the only people making “flood funding” about “race” are Auckland-based radio hosts.

On the ground in Hawke’s Bay, Wairoa, and Gisborne the marae operating as disaster response facilities are simply doing the work of supporting whoever needs support - no matter their ethnicity.

That the Government recognises this work, and is willing to offer funding to further support it, is an investment in our collective civil defence infrastructure. Marae and Māori are an integral part of that infrastructure and the more support they can access, the better-prepared we’ll all be when the next disaster strikes.

But this won’t stop Hosking shouting at the next cloud.