Foss CraigHon CRAIG FOSS (Minister for Small Business): It has been a rough few days in Havelock North and Hawke's Bay. We have been boiling water we have been buying water we have been looking after family we have been looking after our community and we have been feeling for friends neighbours and members of the community who have had this devastating bug go through them. It has been a tough few days in Havelock North indeed and it is not good enough in 2016 for people anywhere in this country to not be able to rely on having good clean quality drinking-water. Absolutely right—it is not good enough for the people of Havelock North to be frazzled to be at the end of their tether to be frustrated to be angry to be upset and to be absolutely at the end of their tether about an issue that none of us actually at this stage know the true cause of. I will come back to that in a moment. It is not acceptable for the people of Havelock North for the ratepayers of Hawke's Bay to now wonder whether they were fully informed at the right time early enough. It is not appropriate for the local member not to have been informed at the right time when it should have been appropriate. It has been a rough few days in Havelock North but people in Havelock North are getting together they are working together they are rallying round and people are supplying water tankers are turning up etc. etc. The community is doing what the community does best. The Hastings District Council has taken responsibility. The Hastings District Council is the body in charge and as Mayor Yule said it is responsible for delivering safe drinking-quality water to the people of Havelock North. There seem to be some serious gaps in the information to everybody. There seems to be some serious miscommunication across our community. The independent inquiry will probably find some holes in the system whatever the system is but right now we need to help get everyone well look after our family look after the water and look after our community as many of us have been doing over the last few days. Our community deserves to know the facts and deserves to know what happened how it happened who knew when they knew who was informed when they were informed and why or why not—but we can come back to that after the independent review. The Government will be part of that review. The Government is very interested in the terms of reference of that review but now is not the time for political grandstanding. People are hurt. Kids are dehydrated. Babies are suffering. Families are suffering. Elderly folk are suffering. Our families are suffering. Now is not the time to get all political about this. Now is the time to deal with it manage it help people get better. Now is not the time to grandstand on people's misery however close it might be to home. Get together across the House members. You can come after me later if you like. You can come after the Government or actually—appropriately—you should go after the particular councils and those who are responsible for managing this issue. But right now is not the time. Two thousand people are very very unwell and 22 people are in hospital. Government agencies have been getting into action here. Their action has been under way since they first became aware. I actually agree with half of other members' speeches. I probably agree with half of Annette King's speech but not the political stuff. Kevin Hague gave a very good speech up until he got a bit waylaid there somewhere but he is absolutely right and I am sure other members agree with me. It is not acceptable what is going on today but we do not know what caused it. It could have been some kind of accident or it could be something far far worse—I do not know. We will find out I hope. The inquiry the district health board (DHB) the Hastings District Council—whoever—will find out I am sure. I am very very hopeful.But as a local as a resident as a neighbour I am deeply deeply concerned about the unavailability and uncertainty that this has created not only for our families but for our business community across Havelock North. Havelock North was empty right through the weekend and yesterday. Things started to empty out on Friday as people started to realise lots of people were starting to get sick and many were not informed as to what possibly might have been going on. Some member said that before. They are quite right. They are quite right. I was speaking to someone on Friday morning who was telling me about their son. Neither of us did too much about it; we did not think too much about it other than that there were other bugs going around town at that time. Suddenly it ramped up on Friday and over the weekend. It is obviously very very serious. I am calling now on the business community across Hawke's Bay—the suppliers to the businesses of Havelock North that have had a collapse in their revenue and business over the last few days—to be accommodating and reasonable because come 20 August a whole lot of invoices will be due and a whole lot of businesses' cash flows have dried up. I ask them as a local as a fair-playing Kiwi as a fair-playing Hawke's Bay person to be accommodating to offer solutions to help the cash flow of some of those businesses that are having very very tough times. Banks landlords suppliers—particularly the larger suppliers—be reasonable be fair and be accommodating because the stress that we have all suffered and the stress that many are still suffering right now we do not need to continue across to the business environment. The issue will come right eventually. I hope it has peaked; I do not know. The DHB thinks it has peaked. We will not know until probably today or tomorrow but we do not know. We will get through it. We need to get through it. We always get through. Yes there will be an inquiry later on to see whether there are any gaps in the systems—most importantly the communications and information systems. But right now I repeat it is not the time to have a go or to be political. There will be time for that later I am sure. Right now please members join me in trying to do anything that you can—I can we can our communities can—to help Havelock North through this disaster crisis emergency or whatever you call it. Please help us to help ourselves to get through this. Put the politics aside at least until we get on top of this issue and it has absolutely and truly peaked and we know that it has ended. Thank you.