Sage Eugenie; Borrows ChesterEUGENIE SAGE (Green): E Te Māngai o Te Whare tēnā koe tuarua e ngā mema o tō tātou Whare tēnā koutou katoa. I am very pleased to take a short call on the Civil Defence Emergency Management Amendment Bill. The Green Party is supporting the bill and I join with others in wishing the Minister of Civil Defence the Hon Nikki Kaye a very speedy recovery so that she can be back here to shepherd the bill through its further stages. I am not on the Government Administration Committee but from reading the submissions and the officials' reports it is obvious that the issues that the 12 submitters raised were very carefully considered by the select committee under the very able chairing of the Hon Ruth Dyson. I am very pleased to see that a number of amendments have been made to the bill in response to a lot of the concerns that were raised in submissions. As the select committee noted this bill is the first stage of a wider review that the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management is doing into the statutory framework for recovery and Treasury is leading a review of the Earthquake Commission Act particularly in relation to compensation and large-scale events. I think there needs to be a lot more transparency around what is happening as part of those reviews. In the Green Party we certainly do not want to see a bill just dropped into the House. There were a number of issues in terms of the way the Earthquake Commission (EQC) operated after the Christchurch earthquakes and the Government needs to consult fully given the importance of the levy payments and the funds that are available and the way that EQC operates. With that said about subsequent stages we support this bill because it is based on those four Rs of civil defence and emergency management—risk reduction readiness response and recovery. One of the major changes that the bill makes is to provide for a range of extraordinary powers to be available during a transition period and to introduce this concept of a transition notice. The period is to cover that period after the immediate response to the emergency and moving into that first phase of the recovery. These extraordinary powers which override normal law in the bill are not as extensive as the powers that are available during the state of emergency but they are still significant. They include powers like being able to carry out works to close roads and public places to prevent people from entering land or areas and to secure buildings. There was a strong call from submitters that there be much more collaboration and consultation between the Minister and local communities and local councils before the Minister made a decision to extend the transition period. In Christchurch we know how much it disempowers communities it disempowers citizens and it obstructs recovery when you have central government acting without consulting with the local community when you have emergency powers or similar powers extending well beyond that immediate emergency into the recovery period and when you have Government agencies making decisions without calling for submissions without holding hearings where the public can face those people who are making decisions and put their views. It obstructs recovery if you have things being done to a community rather than being done alongside and with a community. So we are very pleased to see the Christchurch City Council's eloquent submission calling for a much more collaborative co-governance approach. The bill did not make it that far but the amendments that were made that require the Minister to actually consult with the local civil defence and emergency management group and with the mayor of an affected local authority before issuing or making that transition notice are a significant improvement. I would like to follow on from my colleague Jan Logie in terms of climate change. Sea level rise and climate change will increase the severity of flooding events. We need to tackle our emissions to reduce the likelihood of those events. Thank you.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: I call Peeni Henare—a 5-minute call.