SpeechANNA LORCK (Labour—Tukituki): Thank you Madam Speaker. The people of Hawke's Bay are not interested in politics right now. What they're interested in—and what they're seeking—is leadership and support and progress to enable us to move forward and start repairing the horrendous damage that has been seen across our region.I've lived in Hawke's Bay all my life. My family was there on the day of the storm and I was here in Wellington. I didn't actually get to speak to my family till late in the evening where they managed to get me a 15-second phone call to say We're OK." I think that for me really put into perspective how serious and significant this was for friends family whānau and people across Hawke's Bay because everyone in Hawke's Bay knows everybody in some way. We're well connected.So in the morning when I hoped to get home I heard the news that Hastings and Napier for the first time were completely cut off from each other—twin cities that were split up. So I packed a backpack bought a waterproof raincoat at the airport and got on the flight and thought "Gee I might have to ask Stuart Nash if I can stay with him for a couple of days because I might not be able to get home."As I got off the plane I was one of the first off and I saw Jimmy Guerin a private helicopter pilot. He was on the tarmac and he saw me and he said "Anna do you need a ride home?" And I said "Thank you." With that the aircraft crew came up and said "Have you got a helicopter?" And I said "No Jimmy has." And they said "Well look we've got all this blood and supplies that needs to get to Hawke's Bay Hospital." So we were able to do something so quick. It was really significant but enough to make us know that we were helping out. When I got up on that helicopter with Jimmy and he started to talk about what had happened in the last 24 hours and seeing what I saw I had no idea how we were going to even begin to do the work that we have to do—there was just so much water. And this is what this bill is about.It is about starting to get the progress in a pragmatic way to enable Hawke's Bay and other regions to start connecting back. One of the most important things that I can bring to the House is to talk about those communities who have helped each other. Communities have helped communities from day dot when there were no communications; when people had no way to talk to each other. People just had to do what they had to do.I heard stories from helicopter pilots literally flying from one house to the other where they would have people on their roofs saying "Don't fly" waving them and saying "Go there" because they knew that at the house up the road there were people in more danger than they were.I heard how at the end of the night—when it went dark and they had to stop flying—they were leaving people knowing that there were people still waiting to be rescued. I can't even begin to imagine what that was like for those people. We're talking about older people we're talking about families we're talking about people who had to hold babies above their heads and walk out to save themselves. But so many people saved themselves and it is heartbreaking and a time to acknowledge those who have lost their lives—and to their family and whānau who have lost loved ones. But I cannot still comprehend how we saved so many people and how many people rescued each other. And that is still something that I think Hawke's Bay is coming to terms with: how many people we could have lost but we didn't.I just want to acknowledge that with these isolated communities there have been Hawke's Bay heroes. There have been people who have stepped up in leadership who have done so because they knew that they had to do something. A woman Isabelle Crawshaw who has worked relentlessly building with her community and keeping everybody feeling connected talked about having to say goodbye to her two little children who were safe but they went and stayed with her mum so she could get on with looking after everybody around Pātoka. It's those human stories where we all are connected in some way that I think will be shared stories for years and years to come.I wanted also just to talk about when you are on the ground as local MPs or for the MPs that have come in from other parties—and I do acknowledge that too. We do have a job to do but the job to do is to listen to bring that information to the House so that we can make better decisions. I visited a grower in the weekend. They asked me to come out and see them in the Dartmoor area. He'd been a grower for 46 years and he's lost everything. He'd be lucky to harvest 10 percent of his apple crop. He was one of the first squash growers in New Zealand and a kiwifruit grower. And through all of his devastation Danny Bearsley said to me "I want to show you something." He said "Look over there" and he pointed to an area of his farm that had been a maize paddock. And he said "I reckon this is one of the best places we could dump silt and I'd suggested that to the Hawke's Bay Regional Council a couple of weeks ago. But there was a lot going on and now I'm looking to talk with the regional council this week. We could build a massive hill out of it but it's a great place for it." It's pragmatic practical solutions from people on the ground with industry knowledge who are going to come up with ways to help others. I think as a local MP it's my duty to make sure that when these solutions come up we champion them and we make sure that we help growers in the best way possible to get rid of what is a massive massive daunting problem. The silt it is just kilometres and kilometres of it so I am really pleased that when you meet someone like Danny even while he's facing those tough tough times—Danny you absolutely think about others as well.And I'd also like to mention a couple of other growers who have opened their property up to people from all over political parties so that they can come in and they can see the damage. That's Des and Lesley Wilson. Again their property has been completely smashed. She talks about—and I think it's important to hear this—when she woke up at three minutes past six she could walk on her lawn and thought "Gee we've got over with a few fallen-over trees." Within 30 minutes the water was up to here [puts hand to chest]—30 minutes. She turned around and suddenly saw that it had dropped a few inches and the water started going down. But that's because the Pātoka bridge down the road had absolutely wiped out. It is at that speed that the water hit and we have a duty at speed now to do everything we can do to help build back and come back and do more for Hawke's Bay and the other regions. I commend this bill to the House. Thank you Madam Speaker.Motion agreed to.Bill read a first time."