Government Doesn't Care About the Nelson-Tasman Flooding

New Zealand’s weather is turning rogue, and the National-led government seems content to sit on its hands. The recent flooding in the Tasman District, which claimed one life and left homes, businesses, and livelihoods underwater, is yet another stark reminder of the escalating climate crisis.

This deluge, described by locals as unprecedented, saw the Motueka River breach its banks and State Highway 6 close due to slips and flooding. The government’s response, or lack thereof, betrays a disturbing indifference to the growing frequency and severity of such extreme weather events, driven by climate change.

As New Zealand grapples with an ever-wetter, wilder weather pattern, the coalition’s inaction on flood resilience, emissions reduction, and basic preparedness is nothing short of reckless.

On Friday, 1 News reported:

'Heartbreaking': Flooding turns Tasman farm into 'raging creek'

A farm owner in Tasman says severe weather which has "smashed" her farm overnight is "heartbreaking" for her business.

A state of emergency in place for part of Marlborough, as well as Nelson and Tasman as heavy rain batters the regions. Marlborough District Council has asked residents to avoid all travel unless absolutely necessary.

Wild Oats farm owner Kirsty Lalich told 1News it wasn't the first time her farm on Pretty Bridge Rd had experienced flooding, but said she'd "never, ever seen it like this".

The Tasman floods are not an isolated incident. NIWA’s updated storm rainfall profiles and Nelson City Council’s flood modelling show that climate change is amplifying the intensity and frequency of extreme weather. Since 2018, New Zealand has seen over 30 local states of emergency due to flooding, more than double the number from the previous five years. 

The 2022 Nelson floods were a warning. However, here we are, three years later, with the same region battered again and the new government dragging its feet. Climate change is no longer a distant threat; it’s hammering our communities now, and the National-led coalition seems wilfully blind to the urgency.

Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell’s response was emblematic of this apathy. On May 26, 2025, Nelson Mayor Nick Smith, who declared a local state of emergency alongside Tasman District Council, spoke with Mitchell about the escalating crisis. Mitchell downplayed the event, stating the threshold for a national state of emergency hadn’t been met and that the storm would likely pass. Tell that to the family of the person killed while clearing flood damage. 

Yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:

 

Person dies near Nelson after being hit by tree while clearing floodwaters

A person has died after being hit by a tree while clearing floodwaters near Nelson.

Acting Nelson Bays area commander Senior Sergeant Martin Tunley said the incident happened at Wai-iti, southeast of Wakefield, this morning.

“Around 9.40am, emergency services were called to a property on State Highway 6 after a person was reportedly hit by a tree while clearing flood damage.”

Despite efforts by emergency services, the person died at the scene, Tunley said.

 

Mitchell’s dismissive stance, coupled with his absence from meaningful action, underscores a government more interested in optics rather than saving lives. A national declaration could have unlocked critical resources, but instead, locals were left to fend for themselves.

Associate Transport Minister James Meager’s silence is equally damning. When approached by media about the flooding and repeated calls for a Nelson weather radar, Meager didn’t even bother to comment. This radar, which could provide precise, real-time data to predict severe storms, has been a priority for Nelson and Tasman councils since 2010. MetService has acknowledged its value but noted it lacks Crown funding, a decision that rests with the government. 

The public, caught off-guard by the storm’s ferocity, had little warning due to reliance on Wellington’s distant radar, which is obstructed by terrain. This failure to invest in basic forecasting infrastructure is a direct betrayal of communities facing increasingly volatile weather.

Worse still, the National-led government has slashed funding critical to flood resilience. In Budget 2024, it returned $3.2 billion of the $6 billion National Resilience Plan, established in 2023 to bolster infrastructure against extreme weather. This gutting of funds, intended for medium and long-term projects, leaves regions like Nelson Tasman vulnerable. 

The coalition’s broader climate record is equally dismal: it has watered down emissions reduction targets, scrapped the Clean Car Discount, and prioritised fossil fuel interests over renewable energy. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s government seems to view climate adaptation as an inconvenience rather than a necessity.

The Nelson Tasman floods are a clarion call. New Zealanders deserve a government that takes climate change seriously, through robust emissions cuts, investment in forecasting tools like the Nelson radar, and restored funding for resilience projects. 

Instead, we’re left with a coalition that downplays disasters, ignores media, and leaves communities to drown. The tragedy in Wai-iti and the chaos in Nelson Tasman region demand accountability. It’s time for the government to wake up before the next deluge washes away more lives and livelihoods.

National continue climate change denial

It seems somewhat absurd for there still to be climate change deniers around these days. Not only is the world experiencing unprecedented heat waves, droughts, floods and more intense wildfires than ever before, but these extreme weather events have all been categorically linked to climate change by peer-reviewed scientific research.

However it’s even more ludicrous to still have climate change deniers within our political institutions trying to persuade the public that the science isn’t settled on the matter. I am of course talking about New Zealand's Parliament, and the fact that many National Party politicians continue to question the scientific evidence concerning anthropomorphic climate change.

Yesterday, the NZ Herald reported:

'Science of bull****': National MP Stuart Smith alleges climate change cover-up

National Party MP Stuart Smith has described a Government climate change plan as the "science of bull****" during a talk in Ashburton this week.

The Kaikōura MP floated suggestions that warmer temperatures would not cause an increase in extreme rains - contrary to the Government's National Climate Change Risk Assessment (NCCRA) plan.

Smith, who is National's climate change spokesman, confirmed during the meeting that he was making official parliamentary inquiries with Climate Change Minister James Shaw around the legitimacy of the report, sparking several heated reactions from patrons.

In other words, Stuart Smith is wasting Minister Shaw’s time.

Smith said, in light of recent floods in Mid Canterbury, that a Niwa study showed flooding risk would actually fall as the climate got warmer but had been ignored by the NCCRA document.

Stuart Smith really is on a roll lately. Not only is this idiot trying to claim that the recent severe flooding in New Zealand wasn't linked to climate change, he also wants to ban the public sector from using the word Aotearoa. Talk about a Neanderthal!

Often a person being a climate change denier and a racist goes hand in hand. But when we’re talking about duly elected officials, you would expect them to at least have enough intelligence to not express such monumentally stupid opinions in public.

Of course it would be even better if they didn’t hold these terribly out-dated opinions in the first place, because allowing them to cause us any further delay to mitigating climate change, which is what these morons are advocating for, could prove disastrous for the human race.

Therefore listening to these climate change denying fools isn't something anybody in their right mind should be doing. In fact you'd have to be a bit mentally defective to even consider supporting the views expressed by the National Party recently, particularly those concerning climate change.

Sarah Thomson - Hero of the Week

People living in coastal areas throughout New Zealand know it, even farmers experiencing unprecedented flooding and droughts each year know it… so why isn’t the government taking climate change seriously?

The signs that Mother Nature isn’t happy with our current levels of pollution are clearly evident for all to see. But despite the increasing severe weather events, the National party is dragging its heels when it comes to implementing any type of adequate climate change policy.

That’s why it’s great to see concerned citizens like Sarah Thomson take the initiative and challenge the government on its woeful environmental track record.

On Friday, the Spinoff reported:

Why I’m taking the NZ government to court

I realised that politicians can’t always be trusted to act in the best interests of the people or the planet, and felt compelled by an irresistible force to do something, writes Sarah Thomson, ahead of a date at the High Court in Wellington this month

The day it really hit home was when I listened to James Hansen – the man who warned the world about climate change in the 1980s and whom NASA tried to silence – give a talk comparing climate change to an asteroid speeding towards Earth. The longer we delay taking action, the harder it will become to divert.

Fantastic! Here’s a James Hansen TED talk speech on climate change:

That’s some pretty sobering facts there. I can see why Sarah was inspired to take on the National led government on its climate change inaction and support of fossil fuel industries.

Most of us feel that the only power we have to change the laws that govern our lives and the world around us is the piece of paper we put in the ballot box every three years. But there is one last line of defence where ordinary people can use the laws already in place to create change: the courts.

I wish I shared Sarah’s confidence in the court process. The trick here will be to show that the government’s climate change policy is all hot air. National have in fact done nothing to build resiliency or curb our CO2 emissions in New Zealand. After nine long hard years, we still have one of the highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world.

In November 2015, inspired by climate change litigation overseas including a case in the Netherlands where 900 Dutch citizens filed as plaintiffs, and in the US where 21 kids are taking a lawsuit against the Federal Government, I filed a legal action challenging the New Zealand government’s inadequate response to climate change. The case was the first of its kind here.

I was a student at the time, still in the midst of preparing for university exams, and with no experience in litigation. But I found a team of lawyers who shared my concern and who were ready to fight a battle all the way to the highest court. I was fortunate to also receive support from leading climate change experts, including New Zealand Professor James Renwick, and the very man who opened my eyes to climate change: James Hansen.

This is going to make for a very interesting court battle. It will also serve to keep the most important topic of our generation, climate change, in the media spotlight.

Only through public pressure can we hope to make governments favour clean energy production over polluting industries. It’s an incredibly important issue, being that our survival as a species depends on the powers that be changing their polluting ways.

That’s why Sarah wins this week’s Hero award. She is undoubtedly a fine upstanding Kiwi.

Climate change video goes viral

John Oliver hosts a mathematically representative climate change debate, with the help of special guest Bill Nye the Science Guy, of course.

Oliver tackles media climate false balance, the 97% expert consensus, and what a representative climate debate should look like.