Wagner Nicky: Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
Wagner Nicky: Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill — Second Reading In Committee 
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NICKY WAGNER (National) 
: 
 I am very pleased to support the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill at its second reading. The Local Government and Environment Committee has spent the last 2 days listening to evidence on this bill. We listened to 17 oral submissions and received 23 submissions in total and I am very pleased to report that all submitters saw the need for this legislation. It was the general opinion as we have just heard from Heather Roy that the extraordinary events in Canterbury need an extraordinary legislative response. As the New Zealand Law Society stated: “The Canterbury earthquakes and their aftermath justify some sort of emergency legislation to facilitate the speedy restoration of the region. That response however still requires transparency and accountability. The Bill largely meets these objects.” 
The Legislation Advisory Committee referred to previously established principles required in disaster response legislation and commented that this bill ticks all the boxes. Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu is confident that statutory centralisation of powers is necessary in this instance. They said that “International experience in recovering from natural disaster demonstrates the need for dedicated leadership; clear distribution of responsibilities between entities; clear accountabilities to the people and business of Christchurch; funding and resources from central government.” and I agree with them. There is no doubt that the people of Christchurch want to get on with recovering from the last three earthquakes as quickly as possible and the powers of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority are there to help us achieve that. 
But with powers come responsibilities and this bill includes checks that balance those powers. Firstly and most important the powers can be used only for earthquake recovery—only for earthquake recovery. Also the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery is fully accountable to Parliament and that means to all parties in this House. He has to report every 3 months and every year the whole Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority organisation has to be reviewed. There are the Order in Council review panel chaired by a retired High Court judge the community forum and the cross-party forum plus every Christchurch and Canterbury person has their democratic right to speak out personally or in the media to hold the Minister to account and to hold the authority to account and Cantabrians are well-known for their robust passionate debate on anything and everything. So in this extraordinary situation the bill grants extraordinary powers but they are not unchecked. Furthermore it was noted by the Law Society that the previous legislation which was put in place after the 4 September earthquake had not been abused. There is no reason to think legislation will be abused this time. 
Many groups have spoken about the need for public consultation or rather public engagement—that is the public of Christchurch being involved in the decision making—and those of us who live in the area know that the people of our communities are very keen to contribute. They want to contribute all their ideas to the rebuild. This is our home and with the opportunity to rebuild it to rebuild it better to rebuild it safer and to rebuild it more beautifully we all want to have a part in the process. The Minister is very aware of that need. He told us just last night while giving evidence that if we are to achieve anything in Christchurch and Canterbury the people have to be on board. People want and need the rebuilds and the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority will help them happen. All the work of the authority is being done in partnership with the existing democratically elected councils and community boards and the central business district recovery plan must be notified publicly. 
I have lived in Christchurch and Canterbury all my life. Right now all my energy like the Government’s is focused on rebuilding the city I know and love. I believe that the bill provides the framework to get our city and our province moving. I am voting for this bill because it will be good for Christchurch good for Canterbury and good for our communities and it will enable us to restore not just the infrastructure of our place but also the heart and soul of our home. Thank you.