The North Island Weather Events (NIWE) Primary Producer Finance Scheme (the Scheme) was a $240 million fund designed to help North Island land-based primary producers that had been severely impacted by the North Island Weather Events in early 2023, including the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.
The funding was made available to severely impacted businesses located partially or wholly in the following regions:
- Northland
- Auckland
- Waikato
- Bay of Plenty
- Tairāwhiti
- Hawke's Bay
- Tararua
- Wairarapa.
The Scheme contributed to individual business recovery to make a tangible difference to the affected region’s social and economic outcomes.
Initially open for applications and expressions of interest for 6 weeks, from 31 July to 8 September 2023, the Scheme was then re-opened for expressions of interest only from 2 October to 27 October 2023.
The Scheme closed on 30 June 2024 and is no longer accepting applications.
The Scheme was only available to severely impacted land-based primary producer businesses that had a likelihood of being commercially viable but, at the time, were unable to access finance from their bank or other usual lender without government support. The fund intended to help businesses ‘get back on their feet’ and re-engage fully with lenders.
The Scheme enabled the Government to provide highly concessionary loans and equity finance for land-based primary sector producers in affected regions. This included interest-free loans in times of negative cashflow, and concessional rates for restored positive cashflow.