Andrew Dickens: Much to unpack from the Auckland Floods
There is so much to unpack from the great Auckland anniversary weekend flood and organisational screw up that I’m just going to detail a few points.
Firstly that the storm was unexpected and unforecasted. Well, it was and it wasn’t. All Spring we were told that La Nina was into its third successive cycle. The implication of that was a very warm, wet, and windy summer. Well that sure came true.
Some have immediately jumped onto the storm as evidence of climate change. Except this weather cycle was already predicted and has happened many times before. Climate change may be adding to the impact of La Nina, but that’s a very difficult calculation to make and certainly not one that should be barked at local body politicians hours after the event.
Forecasters knew it would be a significant event, but not quite as significant as it turned out to be. That said, the fact that we sent 40,000 Elton John fans out into the eye of that storm and the concert was not cancelled until 15 minutes before showtime is still inexplicable to me.
An earlier declaration of a state of emergency might have prevented the exodus of innocents into harm’s way.
So, the state of emergency was not declared until 9.30 and then made public at 10.18pm at night. The Mayor explains that this was when the emergency services officially informed him that they were overwhelmed. This is all technically correct but it lacks basic common sense.
It's not what the Mayor and his advisors got wrong. What was lacking was leadership and communication. Proactive leadership from a mayor and emergency staff. Geeing us up. Helping the spread of information.
Auckland Emergency Management issued no social media alerts for four hours between about 6pm and 10pm. I find that incomprehensible. But also incomprehensible is that the Mayor didn't recognise the problem and kick them into action. Not for the first time, Mr Fixit didn't know what to do to fixit.
Wayne Brown doesn’t get it but others do. Thank God.
Councillor Richard Hills was brilliant on twitter. Praised by Mt Albert MP Jacinda Ardern on Saturday for his compilation of info. Councillor Desley Simpson was the real Mayor on Facebook and posted all night long.
Marcus Lush’s programme stopped my son going down an on ramp closed by a fallen tree with just minutes to spare
From the Mayor’s office we got no advice on how to cope all Friday evening. We got one picture of him signing a piece of paper and that’s it.
And that was symbolic arse covering. Look I did something. The next morning he was sniffy about twitter versus official channels. Well, Twitter saved my family mate. Welcome to 2023.
Mayor Brown's performance is part of the pantomime of leadership amongst the politicians we see these days, which views the pursuit of political power as some sort of theatresport, rather than a competition of valid and workable ideas.
We saw examples all week long. Jacinda Ardern steps aside for Chris Hipkins and suddenly we think that the Labour Party has essentially changed?
Nicola Willis saying raising the minimum wage by a few cents would be inflationary after spending last year claiming a tax cut for the rich would not be.
It’s time to remember: many of these politicians aren’t leaders, they’re politicians. They'll say anything to keep power and popularity.
They’re people who don’t get that government is different than business because you have to worry about everything and everyone all the time and not just your mates.
And it appears that many of them really don’t care for what Christopher Luxon charmingly calls the bottom feeders.
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