Dyson Ruth: Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading 
Dyson Ruth: Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading 
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Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills) 
: 
 I acknowledge the previous speakers who have contributed to the debate on the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill and say that this is one of those rare occasions when many parties are praising each other. That is an indication of how severe the earthquake was and of how much it has affected all of us. Very soon I am going to praise two Cabinet Ministers which I am not wont to do very regularly. But I am doing it because they deserve the praise. 
I begin by acknowledging Gerry Brownlee who has been appointed by the Government to be in charge of the earthquake response. He has worked hard and constructively with all parties in this House and I commend him for that. I was very distressed to learn that his home had been damaged in the earthquake. I know that he deliberately chose not to raise that matter in public but it has been in the media and I just give him an extra commendation. When one feels like getting on with sorting out one’s own life and gets a big new job it makes it much harder. But he has done it magnificently. I also commend John Carter for what I think is a genuine effort to understand the issues from our perspective in Canterbury. He has helped to work alongside us to resolve those issues. I urge both of those Ministers to continue with that attitude as we progress this legislation in the House. 
A number of us have concerns about the process and some of the specifics in the legislation. We would like to have those concerns at least considered and preferably addressed. We certainly have questions to be answered. We have a few hours to do it. I do not generally like legislation being put through all stages without the opportunity for a select committee consideration so I ask the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery who is leading this debate—assisted by John Carter—to take seriously during the Committee stage the issues that have been raised. That will continue the spirit in which they are raised in this House. 
I will move on just briefly and digress from the specifics of the legislation to talk about some of the damage in my electorate. My electorate is called Port Hills. It got away lightly compared with much of the rest of our region but people would not think so when they drive around it. There have been two earthquakes in Canterbury. I put on record that we had a second one on Wednesday 8 September. It was not an aftershock; it caused a lot of people to say: “Bother!” and some shorter words as well. It was very sharp and it was centred quite close to Lyttelton in my electorate. 
Lyttelton and Heathcote Valley particularly bore the brunt of that second earthquake. The port itself in Lyttelton was much damaged in both the Saturday quake and the Wednesday quake but fortunately it was able to continue operating which is a great relief. But many homes in Lyttelton have been substantially damaged as have been many commercial buildings. Two historic buildings in Lyttelton the Harbour Light and the Empire Hotel are both still under threat of demolition. I understand that the Harbour Light will be saved which will be a great relief to the many people who have enjoyed evenings there and I hope that the same will be true of the Empire Hotel. 
The whole of our province has seen significant damage to many churches and it was amazing to see the response to the cross-faith service that was held on Sunday outside the Christchurch Cathedral. In Lyttelton the Holy Trinity Church was extensively damaged and I certainly hope that it is able to be restored. In Sumner there are no chimneys left to speak of. Fortunately not many of them were in use prior to the quakes. Also we have had significant damage to the Sumner Borough Council building which again is a historic building. In Heathcote Valley there has been a lot of damage to houses—primarily as a result of the second quake as I said—and we have also lost the Valley Inn which was the centre for social evenings and drinking in the valley. It was the home of many good conversations and the host of our Anzac Day dawn parade services. It was over 130 years old; that building is no longer there. In Woolston historic buildings such as the Ferry Road Law Centre and the community library are under threat of demolition and many of the businesses will have to move. In Sydenham many historic buildings that are used as commercial premises and residential facilities are still cordoned off and are quite literally teetering. 
Many other parts of my electorate our city and our region have suffered significant damage and every single person who was there on Saturday on Wednesday and in between has suffered huge stress. For some that stress has been nearly overwhelming. 
A community can be judged by its reaction to bad times. The earthquakes on Saturday and Wednesday and the hundreds of aftershocks since were big and scary but from every corner of our communities people got out of their homes and businesses and asked what they could to help someone else. The response has been extraordinary. The response from around the country has been extraordinary. I expect you Mr Assistant Speaker Roy and others who in the past have not been able to do so to really go the final step and back the Crusaders next time they play—such has been the strength of support from around the country. I seriously— 
Brendon Burns 
: Give us the shield. 
Hon RUTH DYSON 
: We will have the shield back; that would be a very generous donation to our region. It would certainly lift our spirits. 
People have helped by checking on their own families their neighbours and their work colleagues—just checking that people are OK. They have cooked and baked; they have shovelled and sweated. Students have changed their image for ever by volunteering in their hundreds to help with the clean-up. They cancelled the Undie 500—that was a big joy to many people in the South Island—to help. 
They have been brilliantly led by our civil defence our fire brigade—professional firefighters and volunteers—our police our ambulance officers our health professionals and our workers in Orion and City Care. There are so many highly competent hard-working people—all the staff in our Government departments and agencies. All of these people were helping others in both their professional and private capacities—because many of them have worked well outside of their paid hours—when I know for a fact that many of them needed help themselves. Those people deserve a huge thanks from this House and from our nation. 
I move back to the specifics of the bill itself. It is a reaction to extreme events and to the consequences of those quakes. The bill itself is an extreme measure. It basically suspends 22 Acts and replaces them with an Order in Council without any parliamentary scrutiny or agreement for the actions that would normally come within a legislative framework. That is a big step for the House to take. The establishment of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Commission provides an opportunity for a collaborative approach and clear leadership but there is no accountability to the public for its decisions and no specific skill set for the commissioners is outlined in the bill. There does not appear to be any provision for a robust registration process for the activities undertaken through this new process. 
We cannot afford to have another 1990s leaky building scenario with local government and central government pointing the finger of blame at each other while the homeowner is surrounded by wet rotten boards and ends up carrying the burden. Minister Turia herself noted this very point and I agree with her. In this legislation the Government is exempted from all responsibility. That is a very big step for Parliament to take. 
The final point I make is to ask where this bill will take us. I ask members to look at Napier and the clear vision the city had for life after its earthquake. We in Canterbury have not yet had such an opportunity. It is not surprising after only 10 days. We have spent all our time looking after each other; getting sewerage water and power connected; and providing food for people—literally the essentials of life. We need an opportunity to have a say in the shape of our future. The legislation must not be used in a way that will block our voice being heard in determining the shape of our future. 
I end by inviting all my parliamentary colleagues from outside our region and their friends and families to come to Canterbury. I do not want people to come to rubberneck. I do not want them to ghoulishly look at the misfortune of others. I want people to come and spend their good money in our town and to do as much as they can to help with the rebuilding of Canterbury. Thank you.