Wagner NickyHon NICKY WAGNER (Minister supporting Greater Christchurch Regeneration): I would like to take this opportunity to update the House on the regeneration of Canterbury because it is a really bright future for our province and our city. We have made real progress and it illustrates how important active support and resource from Government is in times of disaster. This is a $40 billion recovery and this is important for not just the people of Christchurch and Canterbury but the people of the South Island and New Zealand.After the earthquakes there were numerous doomsday predictions many from that side of the House. They said: Everybody's going to leave Christchurch. The city's going to stagnate economically and the well-being of Cantabrians will be dire." And that is right it has been a very long hard road but we have got there. There are challenges in front of us. But recent data—and it is important to have good data—is showing that Canterbury is well and truly on its own two feet.We were told that people would leave Canterbury in droves. And there was an immediate exodus but between 2010 and 2016 the population of Canterbury has increased by 5.7 percent; about 32000 people have come to our area to enjoy our greater brighter future.We were told that businesses would close and jobs would be lost but the number of businesses has increased and hundreds of jobs have been created in the last 6 years. We have got down to a level of just over 2 percent unemployment and even today the unemployment rate is at 4 percent compared with a national average of 4.9 percent. Our economy has grown. It has grown above the national average. It has grown 13.7 percent since the earthquakes. The average wages have increased. Before the earthquakes in 2010 the average wage was $726 a week; it is now $935 a week. Lots of young people have had an opportunity to be trained and get into jobs of their choice.We were told there would be nowhere for people to live—and that was tough immediately after the earthquake—but we have built thousands of new houses and thousands have been repaired. We have managed to open up land and to build houses of good quality quickly. What that has meant is that Christchurch now has very good quality and well-priced houses. The average price for a house in Christchurch is $496000 and the average weekly rental price is going down. It has dropped for the last 2 years and it is now $386 a week.We were also really concerned about the well-being of Christchurch people but the Canterbury community has really come together. We have supported each other street by street and we have also managed to develop the Community in Mind Strategy which has brought all the service providers together and they have done a really good job.The latest survey tells us that 82 percent of Canterbury families believe that their quality of life is good or very good. These figures are important because they are showing that we are making really good progress and on the whole Greater Canterbury is regenerating and it is a great place to live work and play. Having good data allows us to find the solutions—the solutions that seem to be so elusive to the Opposition—for the issues that affect us most. The negative predictions about Canterbury have not come true. Christchurch is a real city of opportunity. Young people are flocking here. New businesses are opening every day. One of my priorities as a new Minister is to continue to drive these positive trends and to support the well-being of Cantabrians by continuing to progress this regeneration as quickly and as efficiently as possible.The overall picture is big and complex and I am releasing regular snapshots of information so everybody will be able to see what is happening in our city. It will be accurate. It will be transparent and we will all be able to track the regeneration process. I want to ensure that Christchurch is a great city in a great province. It is the gateway to the South Island. It is important to the South Island people and all New Zealanders. Kia ora."