The new Auckland Minister says he trusts the city's mayor Wayne Brown will handle Cyclone Gabrielle appropriately — with the help of others working on the response.
Michael Wood, also the MP for Mt Roskill, told Q+A Aucklanders can expect "a much greater level of coordination and clarity of communication" in response to the cyclone than compared to the floods of late January.
Wood said there had been "a lot of work" completed to make sure different agencies "are lined up and providing that clear information to people".
He would be in direct contact with Brown over the coming days, he said.
Wood said emergency responses are managed locally in New Zealand, adding: "But we as Government ministers…have worked hard over the past week or two to bring real clarity and focus to make sure our expectations are clear and to offer all the support we can to make sure those local responses are adequate and the communication is clear."
When asked if he trusted the Auckland mayor to handle the cyclone appropriately, Wood said: "I trust that, collectively, we will be able to help Auckland recovery and build.
"We can do it, we will do it. But the only way to do that is together — local government, central government, community and business."
When asked a second time if he trusted Brown, Wood said: "Yes I do."
"I trust all of the leaders in our city to have the city's best interests at heart and to be focused on working together."
As of Sunday morning, MetService said Cyclone Gabrielle is no longer considered a tropical cyclone and has been classified as a subtropical low.
Northland is currently feeling the first weather impacts from the major storm.
Numerous weather warnings across the North Island are in place.
Brown and Auckland Council have faced criticism over the time taken for the state of emergency to be declared, which happened just before 10pm on January 27.
The mayor apologised a week after the start of the deluge in Auckland in a recorded video on YouTube and a statement on the council’s website.
Brown said he was "too slow to be seen" and he "dropped the ball".
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