Gilmore Aaron: General Debate 
Gilmore Aaron: General Debate 
[Volume:671;Page:17767] 
AARON GILMORE (National) 
: 
 I want to focus on a few things that matter. We have lost a lot following two major earthquakes—homes and businesses—people have lost family members and many things have occurred. Across my city relationships have been ruined and people have lost loved ones. The most horrific things I want to talk about are the things that matter. My uncle not only lost his home his business and members of his own family but also saw three people killed in front of him. For him the earthquakes we have gone through have been horrific. We have broken water supplies broken sewer pipes and rather dodgy electricity. We have had some schools destroyed as well. But in all that adversity that Cantabrians have seen there have been some funny things. Cantabrians have comedy in adversity. I must admit that one of the great things I have seen is a video clip on YouTube called “There is a fraction too much liquefaction”. I encourage as many members as possible to see that video clip and the comedy that exists in times like this which helps some people get through. 
The people of Canterbury are strong resilient and optimistic. Yes about 5 percent of Cantabrians have decided to leave the city and they may not come back for some time. There may be about 15000 or 20000 people in that situation. About 40000 people went away for 2 to 4 weeks and have come back to the city. Some may not be able to return safely to their homes. My city is broken but not beaten. Parts of it are even munted. “Munted” is a great new term and the Hon Nick Smith referred to it earlier. There are two different flavours of “munted”—there is “munted” and “mega-munted”. “Munted” is a great word that is often used in Christchurch to describe things that are so broken they cannot be fixed. I am told that “munted” is officially in the  
Oxford Dictionary 
 and it will continue to be so. It will be referred to as a common phrase used in Canterbury. We have met some great people and personalities in relation to our earthquake. In particular I refer to Mayor Bob Parker and his orange parka which is now so famous it has its own Facebook page. This is another example of the differences that occur in Canterbury. 
The Crusaders are back winning again. They are not playing in Christchurch yet but they are training there. Richie McCaw is back training again in Christchurch—a very good sign as we lead into the Rugby World Cup. Our professional netball team the Tactix are back and they won their first game. 
Todd McClay 
: Who’s going to win the World Cup? 
AARON GILMORE 
: Of course we are going to win the World Cup. I can tell Mr McClay that as long as Mr McCaw is back and fit we will win the World Cup. For Cantabrians sport is an important thing. Some people say sport is a very important matter but in Canterbury it is not a matter of life and death it is more important than that. 
In other parts of Christchurch and in other parts of Canterbury there is a thing called quake normality. In the western suburbs of Christchurch the bars the restaurants the garages and the shops look like everything is back to normal again but on my side of town in the eastern suburbs that is not so. Thousands of people have been busy working putting in emergency power cables so we can have power for the winter and fixing sewer lines and water pipes so we can drink the water and actually be able to flush our toilets at some stage in the near future. 
I want to thank a few people. I thank the contractors partly funded by the Government who have fixed the road humps and the road bumps to help things get back to normal; the churches that have housed counselled and fed people; and the food banks that have given out thousands of food parcels. I want to make particular mention of one gentleman called Kerry Bensemann and 0800 Hungry. It is New Zealand’s largest food bank whose own buildings have been destroyed in Wainoni but which has given out over 6000 food parcels in the space of the last month. I was blessed over those few weeks with some colleagues of mine to spend time handing out hundreds of those food parcels. To the consternation of the Labour Party we do get out and work in food banks. I want to mention the Hon Rick Barker in particular who put aside political aspirations I thought and came to Christchurch and did some good work in my community. Although I was not quite sure what he was doing at the time it turns out he was getting votes to be senior whip and it obviously was successful. I give thanks to the Salvation Army and to my senior whip Chris Tremain who despite turning up in Canterbury in Hawke’s Bay colours black and white which has to be seen as hostile had the great pleasure of digging alongside me for a number of days digging out Canterbury. I have now given him a Crusaders rugby jersey so he feels more at home and will be more welcome when he returns next time. I want to thank the builders who have been building chimneys and installing heat pumps and the real army which has given out 28000 chemical toilets including one to my own home so people can have a functioning sewerage system. 
During this time our Government has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in wage support it has altered tax rules and benefit schemes and it has improved and put in place an accommodation support package. We expect to spend billions of dollars over the next few years rebuilding Canterbury for the benefit of people. We have seen great support from the Government in terms of Mr Brownlee and his staff who have been phenomenal as well and in the next few weeks we will see the creation of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority which will rebuild Christchurch the way we want it to be. Thank you.