Cyclone Gabrielle: Tolaga Bay still cleaning up as slash inquiry underway

09:30 am on 29 March 2023

Listen

Photo: Supplied / Bridget Parker

Seven weeks on from the initial carnage hardest hit communities are still clearing debris.

The day after the cyclone hit, we spoke with Bridget Parker whose property is near Tolaga Bay.

She despairingly described the extensive damage caused to her home, farm and orchard by forestry slash that had washed onto her property.

Following the storm, the government announced a long-awaited inquiry into woody debris , which includes forestry slash and sediment-related damage in Tairāwhiti and Wairoa. 

But earlier this week, Bill Bayfield, one of the inquiry's three panel members was forced to stand down after being found to have compromised his independence, and last night Stuart Nash was stripped of his ministerial portfolios for breaching the Cabinet Manual, including Minister of Forestry. 

Kathryn discusses the issue with the Forest Industry Contractors Association Chief Executive Prue Younger and checks back in with Bridget Parker.