Guy NathanHon NATHAN GUY (Minister for Primary Industries): I acknowledge the contributions of the two previous speakers. If there is one thing that this Government is very good at it is managing its way through natural disasters. I was thinking about the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River disaster—I mean this Government has a lot of experience in being very reassuring to New Zealanders and actually to our international partners as well. I acknowledge all of the international support that is still pouring in from around the globe—people ringing the Prime Minister and others indicating offers of support. We acknowledge that and we thank them very much. This Government has also shown that it can respond when we have other challenges. I was thinking that we have had a few in the primary sector with WPC80 and the 1080 criminal blackmail scare as well. This Government has a huge amount of experience in reassuring New Zealanders and reassuring international partners around the world that we are in good shape when it comes to dealing with natural disasters or with issues that this Government has had to deal with over a period of time. Importantly this afternoon I want to focus back in on the issue that we are dealing with now: a significant earthquake event and aftershocks that have rattled North Canterbury the East Coast of the South Island and actually right through the North Island as well. We think about the 1600 aftershocks and we think about the 100000 landslides that are estimated. Of course we have seen the visuals of those affecting the State highway network and the rail network but we should not forget that these landslides have affected a huge amount of rural property. There are huge tracts of sheep and beef land and also dairy land in the areas that have been affected. Personal property—this is going to be a massive build for a lot of our rural communities to cope with. Of course a lot of them will have insurance they will work through with the Earthquake Commission their own personal property and as a Government we will do what we can to support them through. We have proven in the past that we can support our rural communities through droughts through flood events and through natural events such as the event we are dealing with right now. I am pleased to say as I mentioned in the question to the House a few moments ago that all of the dairy cows are now being milked. I thought it was fantastic that TV ONE was showing on Seven Sharp last night a farmer down in North Canterbury Don Galletly whose whole dairy system—his whole cowshed his yard and his facilities—has been devastated by this earthquake. A thousand cows could not be milked. What did he do and what did his neighbours do? They got on the phone and they talked to one another and these cows have gone and been milked on another 11 properties. These are not farmers bleating to the Government saying: You need to do more." These are farmers who are innovators and entrepreneurs who understand the mentality of No. 8 fencing wire. They pick up the phone and they deal with it. They put the cows on the truck and they send them off to their neighbours to be milked. They will come back probably in better condition in 12 months' time ready for another go on this farm—because Don Galletly is indicating that he is going to rebuild.On a positive note we had the Global Dairy Trade auction pop up another 4.5 percent last night. That is great news for our dairy farmers who have been struggling through a very tough time. I also acknowledge the wine industry particularly in Marlborough. They have suffered some tank losses there in damage. I know that engineers are out there assessing that as we speak. They are right in the middle of their bottling plant period. We should not forget the fisheries either in the Kaikōura area. What has happened there is that we have seen the seabed rise and I am getting some estimations in that it could be up a metre it could be three metres or it could be even higher than that. As a result of that we have got pāua and rock lobster stranded and unfortunately they will die. My message to anyone thinking that they can go in there and get a feed is: be careful. Ministry for Primary Industries food safety scientists are out there now saying that this fish will rot very quickly and you will get a food-borne illness if you are not careful. We will work with the fishers and do what we need to do to rebuild this fishery. It is going to take some time. It is possible that there will need to be temporary closures while we work on the overall biomass.But as I say this has been a whole-of-Government response. We are reassuring the community that we will do what we can to get them back on their own two feet again. Thank you."