1. Question No. 1—Prime MinisterHon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime MinisterORAL QUESTIONSQUESTIONS TO MINISTERSQuestion No. 1—Prime Minister1. Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that climate is a bread and butter issue" for his Government; and if so will he ensure that adapting to extreme weather and cutting pollution are both central to the Government response to Cyclone Gabrielle?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS (Prime Minister): Yes and yes. There is nothing more basic or critical for a Government than lifting the country back up after a major disaster and working to ensure we're prepared for a world in which these events are more frequent and more severe. The need for greater resilience and adaptation to climate change will be embedded in our response. Hon James Shaw: Does he recognise that when major emergencies have occurred in the past Governments have kicked climate action down the road while they deal with the current crisis and if so does he commit to taking a new approach in response to Cyclone Gabrielle?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I'm not going to provide a running commentary on the actions of previous Governments but what I will say—Hon Member: That's good.Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: Well except when I want to. But what I will say is that the need to adapt to climate change will absolutely be embedded in our response this time around. Hon James Shaw: What immediate actions will he take to ensure that building resilience and adapting to more frequent and extreme weather events is at the heart of the recovery to Cyclone Gabrielle?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: There's no question that it needs to be. We absolutely have to make sure that building greater resilience and adaptation to climate change is at the heart of our response. Hon James Shaw: What actions is the Government taking to tackle hardship amongst the most affected communities on the east and northern coasts of the North Island and will he ensure that people in Aotearoa have the support that they need to deal with future climate-related disasters?Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: In answer to the first part of the question the most immediate support we can provide for people is to help them deal with their needs immediately in front of them right now which is the need to make sure that they have a roof over their head and the need to make sure that they have money to pay for the basic necessities that they need at the moment and there is a lot of Government effort going into supporting that. As we move beyond the emergency response and as we rebuild and provide more stability for people and for businesses and for others we'll need to make sure that we do that in a way that's setting people up for the future rather than just setting them up to repeat the cycle again the next time a major event like this happens.Hon James Shaw: As part of his previous answer he said that adapting to the effects of climate change would be part of the response to Cyclone Gabrielle and would he agree that we actually need to fix the hole in the roof while we're bailing out water from our homes? Rt Hon CHRIS HIPKINS: I absolutely believe that we need to do both. We need to continue to tackle the causes of climate change and we need to make sure that we are adapting to a world in which more extreme weather events are likely to be more frequent and more severe. I don't think that we should allow this debate to be framed as an either/or; it has to be both."