Edmonds BarbaraHon BARBARA EDMONDS (Minister of Internal Affairs): Thank you Madam Speaker. I join the Prime Minister in thanking our emergency response services and other front-line responders as we respond and support communities who have borne the brunt of damage from Cyclone Gabrielle as well as the floods in Auckland earlier this month.I want to endorse the sentiments in the Prime Minister's speech to the men and women of Fire and Emergency New Zealand Police the Defence Force to the linesmen and women the roading crews the communication companies the supermarkets the transport companies working to get food and goods to where they are needed that are making that all possible thank you.As the Minister with responsibility for Fire and Emergency New Zealand I know firsthand of the tremendous work of firefighters and the support of their families at home. Last week I spent time in their national coordination centre to see what is a considered a world-leading coordination of emergency responders.At the weekend I also visited Muriwai with the Fire and Emergency New Zealand chief executive Kerry Gregory and I met brigade members at the station including chief fire officer Phelan Pirrie. Phelan runs a tight ship of 20 officers and they are grieving the loss of two of their family their brothers. I want to extend my condolences to the family friends and colleagues of Craig Stevens and Dave van Zwanenberg. As a senior firefighter said to me last week firefighters are programmed to never say no. They do not want to let anyone down. As I looked at Dave and Craig's cubby holes with their fire protective pants all ready and their boots inserted into them I knew that their loss will be felt deeply for years to come. Alofa and support to you all.After this emergency response period is over comes the recovery and rebuild. We must rebuild back better. We are moving quickly on this but as the Prime Minister has already noted the recovery is going to take time. It will be a major area of focus for this Government over the coming weeks and months. The rebuild will come with a multibillion-dollar price tag. But I know the Minister of Finance now the Minister for Cyclone Recovery has made it clear: our Government's books are in good shape to meet the challenges ahead from extreme weather events as well as to support Kiwis who are facing cost of living pressures. We are in a strong financial position to do so thanks to that careful management of the books.The impacts of flooding in Auckland in late January and now Cyclone Gabrielle are yet to be fully known but we do know that this is a significant event affecting families and businesses as well as the country's roads bridges and energy networks and it have a sizable impact on our economy. We are working with regional leaders to get communities up and running again. A lesson that Minister Megan Woods referred to from the Christchurch earthquakes was the importance of coordination and of ensuring local knowledge and input into decision making. We will work in partnership with businesses local government iwi insurers banks and others.At this point I want to particularly acknowledge the role of marae and of Pacific churches who joined the emergency management response. Our marae and churches provided refuge and sanctuary for those who had to evacuate sometimes without even the shirt on their back. We thank them in particular for their care for our Recognised Seasonal Employer workers. And we also thank our officials such as those on the ground—civil defence the Ministry of Social Development Te Whatu Ora Kāinga Ora the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the Ministry for Pacific Peoples who have helped with this response both on the ground and from Wellington helping us to coordinate the resources and people to where they are needed the most. This work will continue.We now also need to focus our time and energy and our resources on the most pressing issues to Kiwis to help families with the cost of living. I know how hard it is to live on bare income on $8 in your hand at the end of the week. I know it is such a priority for myself and for my colleagues to ensure that we support our families through these tough times. I know that there is trade-off in household spending at every Budget. But I know that increasing the minimum wage on 1 April by $1.50 per hour $22.70 per hour will make some difference as well as the half-price public transport subsidy through to 30 June.There are many changes that we're bringing through: increases to the family tax credit Best Start payment and from May increases to the winter energy payment. Our Kiwi spirit will prevail in these tough times and this Government will do what we can to support Kiwis during this time.