From March 2023 through June 2025, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet hosted the functional Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery. The Department established a Cyclone Recovery Unit to support the Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery to lead and coordinate the government's recovery work programme, following the severe weather events of early 2023.
For questions related to Cyclone Recovery, please contact:
- Local councils impacted by the North Island weather events for information about recovery in their region
- Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) for matters relating to the Future of Severely Affected Locations, including Whenua Māori and Marae and funding agreements.
- Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) for Orders in Council and the recovery settings decision-making tools.
In January and February 2023, the North Island experienced three successive extreme weather events:
- Cyclone Hale – between 8 January and 12 January 2023
- Auckland Anniversary weekend flooding – between 26 January and 3 February 2023
- Cyclone Gabrielle – between 12 February and 16 February 2023.
In February 2023, in response to these events, the Government appointed a Minister for Cyclone Recovery to lead the recovery, and established the Extreme Weather Event Cabinet Committee to coordinate and direct the Government recovery and ensure timely decisions were made. The Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery was also established at this time.
The events impacted multiple North Island regions: Northland, Auckland, Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Tairāwhiti, the Hawke’s Bay, Tararua, and the Wairarapa. The most significant impacts on residential areas were in Auckland, Tairāwhiti and Hawke’s Bay.
Local communities, including local government, asked that the recovery be locally led. Recognising the importance of local knowledge and input into decision-making in the recovery from the 2010-11 Canterbury earthquakes, central Government supported a locally led recovery approach.
Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery
Katrina Casey was appointed as functional Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery, to provide leadership and coordination of the government's recovery work programme; provide strategic policy advice, ensure alignment with wider policy decisions on long-term resilience, climate change and managed retreat; provide advice on system risk and assurance; and provide secretariat support for the Cyclone Recovery Taskforce. The Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery was supported by the Department's Cyclone Recovery Unit.
The functional Chief Executive's role was later extended to include implementation of the Future of Severely Affected Locations (FOSAL) policy, facilitating the work programme included in the cost-share agreements with councils and the Crown's responsibilities for Category 3 Whenua Māori and Marae Pathway.
The Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery was disestablished with effect from 1 July 2025 and the Unit closed.
Cyclone Recovery Taskforce
The Cyclone Recovery Taskforce was established in February 2023 to pull together and align the economic and infrastructure recovery efforts and to ensure local, iwi, and business voices had input into decision making. The Taskforce provided an independent perspective to the Minister responsible for the recovery from North Island weather events on what was required for the recovery efforts and to improve resilience in the future.
The Cyclone Recovery Taskforce concluded in February 2024 with responsibilities transferred to the Cyclone Recovery Unit.
The membership of the taskforce included:
- Sir Brian Roche (chair)
- Bayden Barber
- Adrian Littlewood
- Katie Murray
- Selwyn Parata
- Craig Renney
- Anne Tolley
- Leeann Watson
Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023
The Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023 (the Act, or the SWERL Act or SWERLA) was passed to assist communities and local authorities affected by the severe weather events to respond to, and recover from, the impacts of the severe weather events. This includes providing the government with flexibility to facilitate, enable, and expedite the recovery.
The Act enables the Governor-General to make Orders in Council (Orders) to modify the statutes listed in the schedule to the Act, to provide those affected by the severe weather events of early 2023 with relief from overly burdensome legislative requirements.
The Act defines both the severe weather events and the local authorities covered by the Act. The Act came into force on 13 April 2023.
DPMC is the administering agency for the Act. Every order is revoked on the close of 31 March 2028 unless sooner revoked.
Severe Weather Recovery Review Panel
The Severe Weather Events Recovery Review Panel was established under the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023.
The Severe Weather Events Recovery Review Panel reviews draft Orders in Council and provides advice on request to both the Minister for Cyclone Recovery and the relevant Minister in relation to said Orders in Council. Through 31 March 2028, the Severe Weather Events Recovery Review Panel members are:
- Hon Denis Clifford (Convenor)
- Natalie Coates
- Horiana Irwin-Easthope
- Liana Poutu
- Rachel Devine
- Dr Charlotte Severne
- Dr Veronica Jacobsen
- Anne Carter
- Associate Professor Dr Hamish Rennie
- Steve Wyn-Harris
In 2024 one Panel member, Ms Rachael Schmidt-McCleave, resigned following her appointment as coroner.
Under section 16(5) of the Severe Weather Emergency Recovery Legislation Act 2023, the Severe Weather Events Recovery Review Panel’s recommendations on draft orders are made publicly available.
Future of Severely Affected Locations (FOSAL)
The Future of Severely Affected Locations (FOSAL) policy approach is a locally led, centrally supported process to address the future use of land severely affected by the North Island Weather Events (NIWE). Its intent is to reduce intolerable risk to people from extreme weather-related natural hazards by mitigating risk where possible and moving people out of harm’s way where those risks cannot be mitigated.
Regional councils and unitary authorities were responsible for categorising land, based on the underlying risk of flooding and landslides from severe weather events and delivering the appropriate policy responses. This included risk mitigation projects and, where necessary, voluntary residential property buy-outs.
Risk categorisation framework
For Category 2 or 3 areas: there is a significant risk to life for residents from future flooding or landslides.
For papers on the Future of Severely Affected Locations work, see the Publicly released Cyclone Recovery-related documents page.
Whenua Māori and Marae Pathway
The Whenua Māori and Marae Pathway enables Category 3 whenua Māori owners and residents to relocate to locations safe from future severe events, this includes relocating marae and assets of cultural significance, e.g. urupa, to safe places.
The Pathway recognises the Crown’s Treaty and legal obligations, complexities associated with whenua Māori and the fact voluntary buyouts would likely not be appropriate for Māori land and communities due to:
- Cultural considerations, such as Māori whakapapa to the whenua.
- Ownership complexity (i.e., multiple ownership structures requiring specific considerations to be followed through before any change is agreed).
- Legal limitations (for example the alienation of Māori freehold land, Māori Customary Land, and Māori Reservations is subject to the provisions of Te Ture Whenua Māori Act 1993 (TTWM Act)).
For the Whenua Māori and Marae Pathway, the Crown worked directly with Marae, residents and owners of whenua Māori assessed by local councils as Category 3 to provide a support package to ensure they relocate to places safer from future severe weather events.
The outcome of this work saw the relocation of seven Marae (five in Tairāwhiti and two in Hawke’s Bay) to whenua not assessed as posing a future risk to life.
Whenua Māori owners received support to relocate but ownership of their whenua was retained. Residents on whenua Māori were supported to relocate.
For papers on the Whenua Māori and Marae Pathway, see the Publicly released Cyclone Recovery-related documents page.
Recovery settings
The Chief Executive, Cyclone Recovery was asked to give regard to enhancing New Zealand’s emergency management and recovery system in the future. A specific aspect of recovery was identified for improvement—support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide a head-start on recovery decision-making when a nationally significant natural hazard events occurs. A suite of decision-making tools was developed to support decision-making when government involvement beyond what is provided under existing settings may be appropriate.
For papers on the Recovery Settings work, see the Publicly released Cyclone Recovery-related documents page.
Publications
Chief Executive Expenses - Cyclone Recovery
Newsletters
From July 2023 to the 2023 general election, the Cyclone Recovery Unit developed newsletters updating councils and other agencies on cyclone recovery news.
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 17 July 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 24 July 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 31 July 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 7 August 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 14 August 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 28 August 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 11 September 2023
- Cyclone Recovery Unit newsletter for 25 September 2023