Auckland Council’s Group Recovery Manager Mat Tucker will continue in the role until the end of this financial year, extending his initial contract by two months and signalling the very early stages of Auckland’s transition out of recovery from the 2023 severe weather events.
Chief Executive Phil Wilson says that since his appointment in April 2023, Mr Tucker has taken on one of the most difficult tasks faced by this council, delivered the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Plan, built a dedicated team to bring that plan to life and implement it, and led the council’s negotiations with central government.
“Our region’s recovery journey is by no means over, and the Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office will remain in place until the end of 2024, but we’re now in a position to plan for a natural transition from a dedicated office, to recovery being managed within the council’s existing operational structure,” he says.
The Tāmaki Makaurau Recovery Office was established after the weather events of January and February 2023, to coordinate the region’s recovery efforts, including working across the Auckland Council group, the government, iwi and other partners. The office was initially put in place for a year, from April 2023 to April 2024 and will remain to the end of 2024.
“The Recovery Office has already initiated work on a transition plan to move the work of the office to existing council or CCO functions later this year,” says Mr Wilson.
“Given the scale of the recovery programme, the relationships built, and the desire to provide continuity of leadership until the transition is completed and functions are handed over, Mr Tucker has agreed to stay on for an additional 10 weeks, after which Deputy Recovery Manager Mace Ward will pick up the reigns to manage the transition and ongoing implementation of the plan.
“I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Mat for the work he’s done over the last 11 months and as he works towards delivering the transition plan at the end of this financial year.
“He has navigated some extremely complex conversations with our funding partners; led a team that has engaged with Aucklanders facing some of the most difficult and heart-breaking situations imaginable; and set us on our recovery journey with a plan and a delivery programme,” says Mr Wilson.
The Group Recovery Manager role is a statutory appointment made by the Governing Body under the Civil Defence and Emergency Management Act 2002. Adjustments to the Group Recovery Manager’s contract must be made by the Governing Body, which also approves the recovery plan, recovery programme and associated transition plans.
The extension of Mr Tucker’s contract to the end of June 2024 and subsequent appointment of Mace Ward as Acting Group Recovery Manager for the period 1 July 2024 until the Recovery Office is decommissioned on or before 31 December 2024 was made by the Governing Body on 1 March 2024.
