Fenton Darien: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
Fenton Darien: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:17142] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 It is a privilege to take a call on the Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill. I start by paying my respects to all those who have lost their lives to their families to all those who have been injured to all those who are still struggling just to get along in their homes and to all those who have lost homes. Just the sheer enormity of this disaster I think has been a shock for all of us even those who like me have not been to Christchurch since the tragedy. I think that all of us throughout New Zealand have been struggling to come to terms with this horrendous event. 
I also acknowledge all of the Ministers and particularly the Minister of Labour who I know lives in Christchurch. I thank her for bringing this bill to the House. Even though we have some reservations—very small ones—about the timing of it we think it is a very good gesture and an appropriate one in the circumstances. 
There is genuine grief and sadness throughout the country. It will last for some time to come and there will be many times in the future also when people will need support. They need it now but they will continue to need it. We must make sure that the commemoration day commemorates those who lost their lives and takes care of the families that are suffering. But also we must look to the future and continue to work together to help rebuild Christchurch. 
It affects us all. We are all in this together and all of those who live today will not forget it easily or quickly. My grandfather was in the Napier earthquake and he talked about it a lot. He was a minister of religion at the time and he had to immediately leave his family of four and help his parishioners. My father who was just a little boy relates the story that he was at school and was walking away from a building when he turned round and saw an enormous crevice behind him. He ended up with a little ticket almost like a refugee ticket that helped him get access to food and other things. Both my grandfather and father were enormously affected by that earthquake. Both of them had been through world wars but the earthquake was the thing they talked about much more when we talked about tragedies and the awful things that had happened in their lifetimes. 
I think the commemoration day is an appropriate response to the tragedy. I dedicate the words in my first reading speech this afternoon to the workers of Canterbury. Many of the people that were killed or injured were just ordinary working people who were going about their jobs. It was tragic that it happened at lunchtime. Some had stepped outside and gone to lunch and were caught in Cashel Mall and others had just come back from lunch and had just got back into their buildings when their buildings collapsed. They were just people who went to work in the morning said goodbye to their families and were never seen again. That is utterly heartbreaking. We mourn all of those workers—the dead the injured and the lost—but also we mourn with all the people who are affected. 
I also acknowledge all the workers that have been at the forefront of the rescue effort in Christchurch and I thank the Minister of Police for her contribution today. It is pretty gruelling stuff to listen to and it must be even more gruelling to be working on the front line retrieving the lost and trying to get them back to their families. It is a pretty gruesome job and I thank them for being there to do that. An important part of families being able to have closure is getting their loved ones home and saying goodbye to them. 
Of course there were firefighters and rescue workers health workers social support workers education workers and community workers. An enormous effort has been put in by the working people of Christchurch and indeed around the country. People have mentioned for example Ministry of Social Development workers. I tried to contact my local Ministry of Social Development office in Northcote the other day and the message was that they were all working on Christchurch. That is fair enough; I understand that. It just shows us the effort that is being put in and I really appreciate it. 
When Helen Clark our previous Prime Minister visited Christchurch she said it was worse than Haiti. I am sure it is worse in terms of devastation but what is not worse is the fact that we live in a country that is a democracy has great public services has a Government and a Parliament that are able to work together and is wealthy enough to get through this—and we will get through this. We do not have to witness the dreadful post-earthquake scenes we saw in Haiti. 
There are many stories which will emerge in the weeks to come of workers who were absolute heroes. Let me say that I am not talking about just workers—I know there were many heroes—but I particularly want to talk about them. I heard of workers who helped workmates out through the rubble and over the bricks and who put their own lives at risk to help people they were working with. Thousands of workers have volunteered along with the rest of the community to help in a variety of ways despite their own losses. They may have lost a loved one or be missing someone they may have lost their homes and they may be living in absolute devastation. 
Caregivers helped relocate hundreds of older people from aged-care facilities to other parts of the country. Can members imagine what it was like for those who live with disabilities particularly those with intellectual disabilities who are living in their family home? It would have been caregivers who comforted them and looked after them. Nurses rolled up their sleeves and went off to work. They reported for duty and got stuck in as of course did doctors. 
As I said I think it is really appropriate that we set aside a day to mourn the losses and it is appropriate that it is a public holiday because there is no other way we can be sure that the workers of Christchurch will be able to attend—there is no other way. As others have said we have some questions about whether it is the right time but I do not want to go into that too much at the moment. Like my colleague Trevor Mallard I want to ensure that the front-line workers—police officers health workers and rescue workers—are able to attend. I feel a little concerned that they will be needed elsewhere and I would appreciate the cooperation of the Government in trying to get the message through that it is very important for those workers to attend because it is for them as much as anyone else. Imagine what they have witnessed and what they have been through in the last couple of weeks. 
There are consequences of course of the earthquake. I do not want to go into them too much but thousands of workers are now out of a job. A lot of businesses no longer exist and many are on the margins. I think there will be questions about that as we go through the next few weeks. 
While I have the opportunity I want to say that the Government’s response its emergency package was far more generous than last time and I know it has been taken up by tens of thousands. I think that something like $50 million has been given out so far and I congratulate the Government on that. There are some other issues around that response package. I do not intend to go into them now; maybe I will a little later in the debate. 
I reiterate my genuine sorrow and sadness about this dreadful event and give my aroha to the people of Canterbury to the people in this House who are suffering and to all of us in New Zealand who will have to stand together to get through this.