PM's Post-Cabinet Press Conference, 16 December 2019: Disaster Responses
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern began her last post-cabinet press conference of 2019 by offering sympathy to those
affected by the eruption of Whakaari/White Island a week ago, and giving an overview of the response. There will be work
on whether any government inquiry into the disaster is necessary and a decision will be made in the new year.
Ms Ardern also announced a five million dollar fund to support Whakatane after the disaster and Westland following
recent transport disruption, particularly targeting small businesses. Citeria for this has not been set.
She took questions on this fund, on whether the ACC encouraged business risk taking, possibilities for government
inquiry processes and for charges, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeting about the number of deceased and
discussions between him and Ardern, issues around planning a memorial, wider tourism industry safety and different
approaches around volcano tourism, assessing the emergency response, the ongoing load on hospitals, the probability of
any overarching inquiry, he texted congratulations to Boris Johnson on his win and plans for a phone call, her earlier
tweet regrading the possibility of Boris Johnson becoming UK Prime Minister, and lessons for the New Zealand Labour
Party from UK Labour's result, her relationship with Jeremy Corbyn, discussions around Ihumātao, developing plans for
public broadcasting and media mergers, the Reserve Bank Act review, and the status of the investigation into Labour's
handling of sexual assault allegations.