Key John: Motions — Fiji—Tropical Cyclone WinstonText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKey John: Motions — Fiji—Tropical Cyclone Winston[Sitting date: 01 March 2016. Volume:711;Page:9195. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Rt Hon JOHN KEY (Prime Minister):I seek leave to move a motion without notice on Tropical Cyclone Winston.Mr SPEAKER: Is there any objection to that course of action being followed? There is none.Rt Hon JOHN KEY: I move That the House express its support for the people and Government of Fiji and other Pacific neighbours affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston. During the weekend of 20 and 21 February Cyclone Winston cut a path of destruction through Fiji resulting in loss of life and significant loss of property and crops. Cyclone Winston was designated a category 5 cyclone the strongest cyclone to make landfall in Fiji with sustained winds reaching over 300 kilometres per hour. In some villages that the eye of the storm passed directly over the devastation is near-complete. It has been assessed that up to 40 percent of Fiji’s population has been impacted by the cyclone.In the immediate aftermath of Cyclone Winston New Zealand quickly understood that significant resources would be required to help Fiji. Our early offer of P3 Orion flights to undertake aerial damage assessment was accepted and over the past 10 days the P3 Orion has undertaken four flights. The reports and imagery following were valuable in assessing where relief is needed most. A C-130 Hercules has also made a number of flights to Fiji taking much-needed relief supplies. To date over 160 tonnes of priority emergency goods have been provided to Fiji including food construction supplies generators tents tarpaulins blankets and shelter kits as well as water and sanitation kits. More Hercules flights are planned for this week.Last week an Air Force 757 flew a team of army engineers and urban search and rescue personnel to Fiji and they are now working alongside Fijian partners to bring immediate relief to communities including repairing schools and public infrastructure and clearing debris. A New Zealand Air Force King Air has also been made available to the Government of Fiji to enable its officials and medical teams to travel to remote villages. A New Zealand medical assistance team is also in Fiji supporting the Fijian Government in undertaking assessments and providing primary health support to those affected. On Sunday our navy’s offshore patrol vessel HMNZS Wellington arrived in Suva and HMNZS Canterbury is also expected to dock tomorrow carrying nearly 90 tonnes of relief and building supplies and helicopters. By the end of this week there will be close to 400 New Zealand personnel in Fiji doing what New Zealand does best—getting out on to the ground and helping our Pacific neighbours in their time of need.Our already established aid programme in Fiji has been bolstered in the wake of Cyclone Winston. Our total financial contribution to the cyclone response to date stands at $4.7 million. The New Zealand public has been generous and many companies have also made offers of assistance. The Fijian community here is rallying its support for its friends and family back home. New Zealand’s response to Cyclone Winston is shaping up to be our largest humanitarian response in the Pacific. Yesterday the Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully travelled to Fiji to see first-hand the wreckage caused by Cyclone Winston. Mr McCully flew over some of the devastated areas and has told me about the widespread damage to housing the scarring of the landscape and the loss of crops. During the visit Minister McCully met with the Fijian Minister for Foreign Affairs and also with the Minister of agriculture and national disaster management. Both have expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the swift and generous response from New Zealand.A strong bond exists between the people of Fiji and the people of New Zealand. The thoughts and sympathies of all New Zealanders and of this House are with the people of Fiji during this time. The Fijian people are resilient and they will overcome this event and in time they will recover. They can be assured that New Zealand will continue to work with them and support them through the relief recovery and rebuild phases.