As rain continues to fall and rising rivers threaten stopbanks across a region still recovering in parts from the ravages of Cyclone Gabrielle, a local state of emergency has been declared for Tairāwhiti by Rehette Stoltz, the mayor of Gisborne. A statement reads: “Declaring in daylight hours gives our whānau and community a chance to self-evacuate and make preparations to ensure they are self-sufficient for at least the next three days. The declaration gives Tairāwhiti Civil Defence emergency powers for the coordination of the emergency response and given we have a significant amount of rain still to come.”

Evacuations began earlier this afternoon in Te Karaka after the the Waipaoa River exceeded 7.5 metres. Roads across the region are flooding and residents are urged to stay home for the time being. State Highway 2 is closed between Ormond and Matawai, as well as from Wairoa to Napier. Parts of SH35 are also closed. A number of landslides have been reported across the region with 61 local roads closed or obstructed.

A red heavy rain warning is currently in force until noon on Sunday for the region. MetService advises: “Expect 200 to 300 mm of rain to accumulate about and north of Tolaga Bay, 100 to 150 mm of rain about the ranges farther south, and 50 to 100 mm of rain about coastal areas south of Tolaga Bay. These amounts are in addition to the rain that has already fallen. Thunderstorms possible. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h.” It adds: “This rain is expected to cause dangerous river conditions and significant flooding. Slips and floodwaters are likely to disrupt travel, making some roads impassable and possibly isolating communities.”

The state of emergency, which was declared at 4.45pm remains in place for seven days. For more details visit the Civil Defence page here.

Evacuations are under way in the Gisborne town of Te Karaka, RNZ has reported, after the Waipaoa River rose to above 7.5 metres.

Local Civil Defence said the Te Karaka Area School was operating as an evacuation centre, while the Te Poho o Rawiri marae was also prepared to accept displaced residents.

It’s another blow for a region still reeling from Cyclone Gabrielle and other severe weather events earlier in the year.

Metservice, meanwhile, has upgraded its weather watch for Tairawhiti to a red heavy rain warning. This will be in place through until Sunday, with the heaviest rain expected today and tomorrow evening. “People are advised surface flooding, slips and disruption to transport are likely, and some communities may become isolated,” the forecaster said.

Periods of “prolonged rain” have also been forecast for northern and eastern areas of the North Island and the northeast of the South Island.

The prime minister’s admitted he’s brought up the ministerial mishaps involving Stuart Nash and Michael Wood during conversations with his predecessor, Jacinda Ardern.

Chris Hipkins is in Wellington today and has just fronted to media in Lower Hutt.

Most of the questions surrounded the resignation of Michael Wood yesterday. Hipkins said he hasn’t spoken to Wood since yesterday. “I’m giving him the courtesy of giving him a little bit of space.” He called the non-disclosure of shares a “blind spot” for Wood.

However, asked whether he’s been keeping in touch with Ardern, the current PM said yes. The past couple of conversations had been largely about Ardern’s work with the Christchurch Call, however Hipkins let slip that they had discussed recent cabinet dramas.

“Often I call her to ask her what she knew about a particular situation because you [the media] ask me about it and I like to be able to answer,” said Hipkins.

Auckland mayor Wayne Brown’s labelled the current approach to parking fines “irrational” and argued for more control over infringements.

It’s been reported by BusinessDesk that Brown’s hoping to develop a local bill to address the fact councils can’t actually set higher parking fines. That’s because the power to adjust fines remains with central government under the regulations set in the 90s.

Brown believes that it should be up to the council to control and enforce infringements. That would mean upping the minimum price for a parking ticket from $12 (Brown’s previously said it should be $100) and for illegal parking, such as on a berm.

It wouldn’t be enough to just up the price per minute of parking, said Brown, because “if the fine is $12, it doesn’t matter if we make it $100 a minute, who’s going to pay it?”

The general manager of strategy at the Infrastructure Commission, Geoff Cooper, acknowledged that it’s been a long time since the existing legislation was changed. “Some of our transport charges are written in legislation that doesn’t move over 10 years, and so inflation slowly erodes it,” he said.

Last Tuesday, the mayor of Gore, Ben Bell, presented to council a petition to council calling for the resignation of Stephen Parry, the CEO with whom he has been consistently embattled since his election as the country’s youngest mayor in 2022. Nine days on, the mayor and councillors – who rejected that petition – have issued a formal apology to Parry. 

The written apology notes that media coverage of the saga “has caused significant disruption, distress and hurt to the chief executive, staff, and councillors” and “undermined various relationships and our community’s confidence in its council”. The statement, which reads as if strained through a legal colander, continues: “Errors have been made during this discourse, which has had a detrimental impact on Mr Parry’s reputation and wellbeing. The elected members wish to acknowledge and apologise for the hurt caused to the chief executive.” It further expressed “sincere regret” for a breach of Parry’s privacy which caused “significant harm to him, his family, and his reputation”, and that Parry has “accepted this apology”.

The statement goes on to express “unreserved confidence in Mr Parry and his capability”, and that the council “affirms that Mr Parry is a skilled and experienced local government chief executive and has created a strong management team around him who are all supportive of him as their leader”. The statement, which includes no direct quoted remarks from Bell or anyone else, concludes by saying all parties have “agreed to put any differences behind them, work collaboratively together, and make every effort to rebuild trust and confidence that has been severely damaged over the past few months”.

Last month, an expected showdown was averted when the most watched meeting in the history of the Gore District Council saw members decide against a no-confidence vote in Mayor Bell. 

Following yesterday’s news that an investigation is under way after allegations were made against Oranga Tamariki, the children’s commissioner, Frances Eivers, has renewed her call for these kinds of residences to be shut down. Eivers told RNZ’s Checkpoint last night that her staff talked to a range of people at one residence during an unannounced visit and it became obvious there was an issue. It was “serious enough” for her to pick up the phone, call Oranga Tamariki, and advise them of the situation.

The allegations involve inappropriate sexual behaviour, with at least five children impacted. Former police commissioner Mike Bush will take on the leadership of all Youth Justice and Care and Protection residences, with Oranga Tamariki CEO Chappie Te Kani saying Bush will “lead a rapid review across all our residences, including our Oranga Tamariki community-based homes.”

Want to read The Bulletin in full? Click here to subscribe and join over 38,000 New Zealanders who start each weekday with the biggest stories in politics, business, media and culture.  

Now-former minister Michael Wood had 16 interactions with the cabinet office over his Auckland Airport shares, it’s been revealed by the Herald. That’s more than the 12 times it was believed Wood had been asked to ditch his shares since 2020,

Wood resigned as a minister yesterday after it came to light that he had additional shareholdings, including in areas related to his work as immigration minister. The prime minister Chris Hipkins struggled to explain how Wood had ended up in this situation, but said he was both angry and frustrated by the revelations.

Today, new correspondence has shown that Wood’s office claimed the airport shares were being sold back in 2021. A March 2021 message from the cabinet office to Wood included a draft review of all ministers’ interests. It was claimed that Wood’s shares had been sold and it’s not known whether the record was corrected, however in July of that year, another message stated that: “Mr Wood has divested himself of shares in Auckland Airport”.

The new correspondence doesn’t change the fact that Wood is no longer a minister and nor will it do anything to help Hipkins’ headache (he’s probably had a headache for the last couple of weeks, a lot has happened). However, it adds fuel to the opposition’s claim that the government is collapsing.

“This is a government that is actually falling apart,” said National’s Christopher Luxon. “Stuart Nash, Kiri Allan, Jan Tinetti, Michael Wood – it goes on and on and on and it just doesn’t stop.”

Former minister turned political commentator Peter Dunne told Newstalk ZB the whole situation was just unusual. “The bizarre thing about this is there were so many warnings to Wood after the last events just a couple of weeks ago, you’d have thought at the very least he’d have gone away and checked he was in the clear – let alone given assurances to the prime minister that there was nothing more to see.”