Tairāwhiti: Pine, Profit And The Cyclone

Tairāwhiti has long been a region where colonialism and environmental exploitation intersect with devastating results. Award-winning journalist Aaron Smale (Ngāti Porou, Ngāpuhi) confronts these issues head-on in Tairāwhiti: Pine, Profit and the Cyclone.

The harrowing aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023 revealed the fragility of the region’s environment and the stark reality of ongoing mismanagement. ‘It is almost impossible to describe the destruction that not only nature but also human decisions have inflicted on Tairāwhiti,’ Smale observes. ‘The Coast has been battered for years by decisions made by those who don’t live there and don’t have any connection to the place. It started early.’

Smale draws on his investigative series with Newsroom to bring forward the voices of a community fighting for its future against the backdrop of historical and environmental injustice. He calls for a reimagining of how the land is treated, urging for solutions that honour the region’s history, respect its people, and secure its future.

Tairāwhiti joins a significant group of BWB Texts focusing on climate change – including Jonathan Boston’s A Radically Different World: Preparing for Climate Change (2024), Tom Doig’s Living with the Climate Crisis: Voices from Aotearoa (2020), Teall Crossen’s The Climate Dispossessed: Justice for the Pacific in Aotearoa? (2020), and Shaun Hendy’s #NoFly: Walking the Talk on Climate Change (2019).

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