July 14, 2025 • 6 mins
In light of the devastating flooding, we have to play nice today with the former MP for West Coast Tasman. And surprisingly, we agree to agree for once!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Damien, I kind of joins us to kick off the show. Damien,
West Coast Tasman. You're old electorate. It's truly tragic what's
happened there. Have you had a good look around it?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes, I've been up a couple of times and spent
a number of days as best I could get around.
Of course, after the first event went up and had
a look down the Moneracre Valley, had to sneak in
around a few roads, but respectful of the road closures,
of course, but they did let me through a couple
of them just to talk to people. You know, rivers,
huge amount of gravel coming down, rivers that had just
(00:32):
gone through the stock banks and you know, people hadn't
seen anything like that. That was the first event, and
indeed in some areas, the Motte Valley in particular, it
was worse the other day. And so it's pretty hard
on people, you know, through their homes, you know, literally
washing away fences, washing away land, hammering some of these
(00:54):
areas of orchard, one pair orchard there with you know
a lot of infrastructure, framing, the very best of technology
just getting hammered by the water. So a big shock
all round for everyone. They kind of sick of it,
and everything saturated, and it's going to take quite some time,
and there will be expectations, I guess, of government stepping
(01:16):
up here, not just roading, but actually it's hammered people
in a way that none of them could have prepared for.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Mind you, the government can't afford to keep on paying
for every natural disaster. We have as much sympathy as
we have for the good folk and your electorate. It's
not the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.
Are people going to get hung out eventually to dry?
No bad pun intended by the insurance industry over these.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No doubt. And there'll be some people affected by this
last event, at the last two events that aren't insured
at all, and for them it's tragic. To come back
to the point, and I know there's some discussion about it.
You know, what should people expect? EQC, you know, has
its limits. Councils may have approved, you know, building in
certain areas. You know, what should people expect by way
(02:06):
of protection through flood banks or stop banks? These are
all quite complex issues and there is I think an
expectation from people who buy a place. You look at
the limb you sometimes have to look at the local
plan to work out whether you're in a high risk area,
whether there's something on the limb. And indeed, you know
if it's been approved, and if it has been approved,
(02:27):
then I think there is some obligation back on central
and local government and it might mean that they just
got to be a bit more careful before they kind
of rush out and sign off on everything. And actually
that runs completely contrary to what the present government is
saying about. You know, we'll just leave it to the market,
take off the regulations, you can just go for it. Unfortunately,
(02:48):
that might mean down the track that you know, you're
left high and dry.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Have we got it badly wrong when it comes to
extract and gravel from some of these rivers. That's a
common complaint I hear from farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes we have. You know, New Zealander is basically rising
up out of the ocean. We're being washed down out
to sea, you know. And what I hear is, of
course you've got to let the natural river flow, but
it's within stopbanks often and so the minute you put
an intervention in place, then you've got to you know,
there are actions and reactions, and you've got to follow
(03:22):
that up and the gravel the hills are being washed down.
There is more gravel in the vast majority of rivers
and taking some out won't prevent some of these events.
But a stitch in time saves nine. And there are many, many,
many examples in Tasman in particular, where people have asked
for sensible extraction they haven't been allowed and now they
(03:43):
get pretty pissed off. Look, that extraction wouldn't have stopped
the flooding, but you know, it's a good bit of
public relations, and it's sensible that we do what we
can when we can.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Absolutely adaptation versus mitigation. Do we just have to learn
to live with these client events.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well, a bit of both. So if we end up
at three degrees increase in global warming, it's going to
be disastrous. And so we do have to do what
we can to reduce global warming, and that's an international effort.
If you read some of the reports, they are quite
scary when it comes to ice, ice caps and the poles,
and you know, these kind of acute events which we
(04:24):
were warned about many years ago, are likely to be
more frequent, and so we have to do a bit
of both. We can't just give up and say there's
nothing we can do and we'll just have to mitigate,
you know, and adapt. We really have to try and
reduce our effect on global warming in sensible ways, which
is effectively more efficient use of hydrocarbons, and then we're
(04:46):
going to have to be very careful where we build,
how we build, and you know what materials we build with.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
We can't finish this chat, damn without arguing about something.
Maybe we can argue about climate change and the roots
cause of it all man burning fossil fuels rather than
ruminants emitting methane because their numbers haven't increased. Will that
get a bite?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, I'm not sure. You know, we certainly had a
few more dairy house and animals in New Zealand then
was here. Then we're here probably two hundred and fifty
years ago. So you know we have contributed. We've chopped
down quite a bit of bush, if you might have noticed.
And I guess the question is should we all make
an effort to do what we can or should we
just give up and say, well, it's up to traina
(05:30):
in the US. Look, you know the top ninety countries
of ninety countries that produce, you know, relatively small amounts,
you know, add up to about thirty percent of global warming.
And so if we all do our bit, then we'll
make some progress. And it's not just cows, it's not
just transport, it's all of those things. Let's see what
we can do.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Ah, I sort of feel disappointed, I.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Know, so so will the listeners. I'm sure I think
they appreciated that healthy, robust and I hope that people
can respectfully have that out around the community. Farming community
in particular. You don't like getting into an argument with
your neighbor, but if it's about something worthwhile and you
do it respectfully, then it's going to be productive.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
With your Irish background and heritage, you're not happy unless
you have an argument anyhow.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well, that's exactly That's why the Irish, you know, some
of the best educated people in the world, you know,
one of the oldest universities in the world, because they've
been doing it for a long time. And I'm proud
of that heritage.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Damien, he kind of thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Thank Shami.
Damien, I kind of joins us to kick off the show. Damien,
West Coast Tasman. You're old electorate. It's truly tragic what's
happened there. Have you had a good look around it?
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Yes, I've been up a couple of times and spent
a number of days as best I could get around.
Of course, after the first event went up and had
a look down the Moneracre Valley, had to sneak in
around a few roads, but respectful of the road closures,
of course, but they did let me through a couple
of them just to talk to people. You know, rivers,
huge amount of gravel coming down, rivers that had just
(00:32):
gone through the stock banks and you know, people hadn't
seen anything like that. That was the first event, and
indeed in some areas, the Motte Valley in particular, it
was worse the other day. And so it's pretty hard
on people, you know, through their homes, you know, literally
washing away fences, washing away land, hammering some of these
(00:54):
areas of orchard, one pair orchard there with you know
a lot of infrastructure, framing, the very best of technology
just getting hammered by the water. So a big shock
all round for everyone. They kind of sick of it,
and everything saturated, and it's going to take quite some time,
and there will be expectations, I guess, of government stepping
(01:16):
up here, not just roading, but actually it's hammered people
in a way that none of them could have prepared for.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
Mind you, the government can't afford to keep on paying
for every natural disaster. We have as much sympathy as
we have for the good folk and your electorate. It's
not the first time, and it definitely won't be the last.
Are people going to get hung out eventually to dry?
No bad pun intended by the insurance industry over these.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
No doubt. And there'll be some people affected by this
last event, at the last two events that aren't insured
at all, and for them it's tragic. To come back
to the point, and I know there's some discussion about it.
You know, what should people expect? EQC, you know, has
its limits. Councils may have approved, you know, building in
certain areas. You know, what should people expect by way
(02:06):
of protection through flood banks or stop banks? These are
all quite complex issues and there is I think an
expectation from people who buy a place. You look at
the limb you sometimes have to look at the local
plan to work out whether you're in a high risk area,
whether there's something on the limb. And indeed, you know
if it's been approved, and if it has been approved,
(02:27):
then I think there is some obligation back on central
and local government and it might mean that they just
got to be a bit more careful before they kind
of rush out and sign off on everything. And actually
that runs completely contrary to what the present government is
saying about. You know, we'll just leave it to the market,
take off the regulations, you can just go for it. Unfortunately,
(02:48):
that might mean down the track that you know, you're
left high and dry.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Have we got it badly wrong when it comes to
extract and gravel from some of these rivers. That's a
common complaint I hear from farmers.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Yes we have. You know, New Zealander is basically rising
up out of the ocean. We're being washed down out
to sea, you know. And what I hear is, of
course you've got to let the natural river flow, but
it's within stopbanks often and so the minute you put
an intervention in place, then you've got to you know,
there are actions and reactions, and you've got to follow
(03:22):
that up and the gravel the hills are being washed down.
There is more gravel in the vast majority of rivers
and taking some out won't prevent some of these events.
But a stitch in time saves nine. And there are many, many,
many examples in Tasman in particular, where people have asked
for sensible extraction they haven't been allowed and now they
(03:43):
get pretty pissed off. Look, that extraction wouldn't have stopped
the flooding, but you know, it's a good bit of
public relations, and it's sensible that we do what we
can when we can.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Absolutely adaptation versus mitigation. Do we just have to learn
to live with these client events.
Speaker 2 (04:01):
Well, a bit of both. So if we end up
at three degrees increase in global warming, it's going to
be disastrous. And so we do have to do what
we can to reduce global warming, and that's an international effort.
If you read some of the reports, they are quite
scary when it comes to ice, ice caps and the poles,
and you know, these kind of acute events which we
(04:24):
were warned about many years ago, are likely to be
more frequent, and so we have to do a bit
of both. We can't just give up and say there's
nothing we can do and we'll just have to mitigate,
you know, and adapt. We really have to try and
reduce our effect on global warming in sensible ways, which
is effectively more efficient use of hydrocarbons, and then we're
(04:46):
going to have to be very careful where we build,
how we build, and you know what materials we build with.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
We can't finish this chat, damn without arguing about something.
Maybe we can argue about climate change and the roots
cause of it all man burning fossil fuels rather than
ruminants emitting methane because their numbers haven't increased. Will that
get a bite?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Well, I'm not sure. You know, we certainly had a
few more dairy house and animals in New Zealand then
was here. Then we're here probably two hundred and fifty
years ago. So you know we have contributed. We've chopped
down quite a bit of bush, if you might have noticed.
And I guess the question is should we all make
an effort to do what we can or should we
just give up and say, well, it's up to traina
(05:30):
in the US. Look, you know the top ninety countries
of ninety countries that produce, you know, relatively small amounts,
you know, add up to about thirty percent of global warming.
And so if we all do our bit, then we'll
make some progress. And it's not just cows, it's not
just transport, it's all of those things. Let's see what
we can do.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Ah, I sort of feel disappointed, I.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Know, so so will the listeners. I'm sure I think
they appreciated that healthy, robust and I hope that people
can respectfully have that out around the community. Farming community
in particular. You don't like getting into an argument with
your neighbor, but if it's about something worthwhile and you
do it respectfully, then it's going to be productive.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
With your Irish background and heritage, you're not happy unless
you have an argument anyhow.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Well, that's exactly That's why the Irish, you know, some
of the best educated people in the world, you know,
one of the oldest universities in the world, because they've
been doing it for a long time. And I'm proud
of that heritage.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Damien, he kind of thanks for your time.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Thank Shami.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.