Whaitiri MekaMEKA WHAITIRI (Labour—Ikaroa-Rāwhiti): Tēnā koe Mr Deputy Speaker otirā me ngā mema o Te Whare nei tēnā tātou katoa.[Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker and my appreciation at the same time to all of us the members of this House.] It is pleasing to follow on from all previous speakers who have spoken in support of the Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquakes Emergency Relief Bill. Can I first acknowledge particularly those who lost loved ones in this tragedy the families who are still picking up the pieces and the community of Kaikōura. As the member for Ikaroa-Rāwhiti we have had our fair share of disasters but at the moment I am acknowledging your particular disaster and I am acknowledging those who lost dear ones.I want to acknowledge the resilience of the community of Kaikōura. Yes we have all responded—the Government has responded the wider community of Aotearoa has responded—but at the end of the day the community of Kaikōura still has many challenges ahead of it. This is where this bill is as the Minister has said an attempt to move barriers and inhibitors particularly around the Resource Management Act to ensure that those who are picking up the pieces on the ground are able to do that in a timely and efficient way.Recovery repair restore re-establishment—all these R" words are what this particular bill is attempting to do. There have been comments that retrospective lawmaking is not ideal but in this situation where we have got this tragedy in front of us we do need to come together as parliamentarians in this particular House to make sure that we are putting in the right legislation to enable the recovery the repair the restoration and the re-establishment. I do also want to echo the Minister's acknowledgment of the officials who since the earthquake have obviously worked really really hard to bring these two particular bills to the House.The bill does three things. Firstly it temporarily increases the time frames for notification of retrospective resource consents for emergency works from 7 working days to 40 working days and the time to apply for resource consent will increase from 20 working days to 120 working days. Secondly it makes emergency works for rural landowners "permitted activities" that they must notify the council about within 40 days. Thirdly it allows the dredging of the Kaikōura harbour which was blocked by the earthquake to allow the resumption of tourist activities and fishing.There is not a member in this House who cannot recall seeing those images on our television sets of the multiple pāua and the kōura that were left exposed as the sea floor came up I know there was not. And particularly in the electorate that I represent where pāua is an iconic species to the Ngāti Kahungunu people to see so many exposed through this tragedy broke our hearts in so many places. So I again acknowledge the local people working obviously with the Ministry for Primary Industries to try to salvage those exposed kai moana. One thing as a Māori you do not ever want to waste kai moana—an absolute delicacy—but look this is just to ensure that again this bill has the tools to allow the recovery process.In terms of the harbour I just want to acknowledge the work—the tourism of Kaikōura. In my maiden speech in this House I talked about Whale Watch Kaikōura and in an indirect way having had some involvement with the establishment of that industry. I recall travelling to Kaikōura back in the mid-eighties and then going back to visit it in the last 3 years. I can tell you that the transformation from the mid-eighties to early 2013 was very dramatic—the role that Whale Watch particularly had on that community with the opening of supermarkets and hotels that resulted from that particular industry. So I just want to add my words of acknowledgment not just to the whale watching industry but to the importance of tourism and the flow-on industries that they have in Kaikōura. The sooner we can get them up and running and the sooner we can get that harbour dredged—I am sure the people of Kaikōura will be very appreciative of that.Having said that I have made a couple of references to our own tragedy up on the East Coast in the mid-eighties: Cyclone Bola in 1988. I raise this perhaps as a cautionary note to the Government in its commitment to seeing that we are removing all legislative barriers to ensure we have got recovery in place and of course to the rescue package for businesses and the commitment to clear the major highways.One particular point I noted in researching the Cyclone Bola investment from the Government at the time was the East Coast forestry project that the Government put substantial money into up the East Coast. That was purely to address the erosion and to protect the land. My point is that we are now—1988 to 2016; that is 28 years if I am correct—28 years on and we still have major erosion problems up the East Coast: there are major erosion and water quality issues. And so I guess my cautionary note to the Government is that we need to put regular review points in the recovery from major disasters in this country simply because they may not show themselves for 10 years 15 years or in my instance up the East Coast until 28 years later. So these are just some of the lessons of the past that I hope—and I am sure—the Government will take on board. For recovery the instant removal of legislation that this bill is attempting to do and the ongoing financial contribution to businesses in Kaikōura we also need to make sure we are factoring in regular reviews—that is 5-year 10-year 15-year ones—to ensure that any issues like erosion are addressed and that we have got the proper tools to address them in that respect.I do not want to talk any further but it is my pleasure to stand in support of a piece of legislation that will enable us to do exactly what this House is committed to and that is the quick and expedient recovery of the community of Kaikōura. In closing I want to add my words of thanks to the local MP Stuart Smith: you did a stellar job Mr Smith. Of course I also want to acknowledge my colleague Rino Tirikatene who was down there as quickly as he possibly could—when he could get transportation in there—at the Takahanga Marae working and feeding the many tourists that the marae of Takahanga opened its doors to. So like everybody I commend this bill and look forward to its speedy passage through the House. Kia ora tātou."