Mitchell ClaytonCLAYTON MITCHELL (NZ First): I would like to stand on behalf of New Zealand First to also join in the chorus of sympathy for the people affected by the Kaikōura earthquake particularly those people who have lost loved ones. I want to acknowledge Minister Gerry Brownlee for giving the Opposition parties the opportunity to go down there on the Thursday prior to the adjournment to go and meet with some of those people to see first-hand the effect that the earthquake is having on the local community but also to see first-hand how they are dealing with it and they really are dealing with it in spectacular fashion. Although we were down there for only the best part of a morning and the early afternoon we were as busy as bees with bums full of honey as we went from place to place to talk to the people with regard to their situations.The comment coming out of Kaikōura is: We just need support." Obviously they were having difficulty with water. A big part of that was removing the burden I guess of the tourists whom they wanted to get out of the area. Food was obviously a concern and of course fuel. But they have a number of issues that they need to contend with and they just want to get on with it and get the support from able-bodied people to be able to assist with getting themselves into the recovery mode and back on their feet. So I would like to thank the Minister for that opportunity. It really was very much appreciated.I would also like to go further by saying the cross-party meetings that have been held both last Wednesday and again yesterday afternoon were fantastic and it just shows a very very cordial approach. I know we sometimes squabble over what some people might think is quite trivial but really when the rubber meets the road and things get very serious then we certainly do bond together to come up with very very pragmatic sensible common-sense approaches to legislation and I think we are showing here today in the House that we too want to get on with this and make it very very easy for the people of the affected areas to also get back on their feet.I have to say that only 2½ weeks ago or nearly 3 weeks ago we were sitting in this House speaking in the final reading of the Civil Defence Emergency Management Amendment Bill and putting that through. In fact in every stage we had I spoke to that bill and said we should have been putting it through under urgency because it is not a matter of if we have a civil defence emergency in this country it is a matter of when. We are still in the situation right now here today with the possibility of another big shake and with tsunami warning systems that we do not have in place which we have been continually speaking about. We are saying that this is the sort of thing where you have got full support across the House with all the parties involved and that we should be putting urgency into these discussions to make sure that we are prepared and ready for action in the event of something unforeseeable happening. We are here now today discussing exactly that. We said we would like to see the 180 days taken out of the last bill to be brought in after the Royal assent and that is exactly what the first part of this bill is doing. There is nothing more antiseptic in life I guess than when you have the opportunity to say "We told you so." and we have been banging on about that.We would also like to say as we have been saying and seemingly sometimes banging our heads against the lectern that part 2 of the Christchurch earthquake review which was to look specifically at large-scale events such as the one that happened only literally 2 weeks ago—we need to get that part 2 which is dealing with those large events under way. Part 1 which we put through the House 2½ weeks ago was dealing with small-scale events and we are using that legislation—pan it up a little bit—to make it at least fit for purpose for this current situation. But it begs the question as to when this second part the important part of this review is going to be taking place and when that legislation in its entirety is going to be brought to this House for discussion because I do believe Minister that you have seen today how the parties have come together and are working together to come up with sensible legislation and I think once that legislation comes to the House it can also be put through under urgency.This bill is about public safety first and foremost but it is also about understanding the importance of peace of mind because like Paul Foster-Bell I too live in an apartment during the week down here in Wellington. I was here on the Monday night post the earthquake 2 weeks ago and I felt very uncomfortable staying in an eight-storey apartment block with lifts that did not work and cracks up the stairwell. It did make things feel very very uncomfortable. To be fair it gave me some comfort the next day when of course the corporate body came forward and said: "No we've done our checks. We are good to go." That peace of mind you cannot put a value on. I mean I checked the fire escapes and I would be off like a robber's dog out that door if that ground started shaking because that is very important. It is also very important to know that we currently have 11 ministerial offices in the centre of this city that have now been condemned and shut down and some of them have already had the demolition clauses applied. There are others—we have got shopping centres we have got car-parks and of course we have had some movie theatres that closed themselves down as well after getting those assessments done. But how many businesses and buildings in this city have not had those assessments done? Is it just the ministerial offices that are the most unsafe buildings? It begs the question. I would say that there are a lot more businesses in buildings in this area that are not fit for purpose that have not been checked and this bill addresses that situation very very clearly and as has already been mentioned Justin Lester has said he will enforce this almost immediately because that is a practical step.So what this bill does is two things. It brings the enforcement date forward to today so this bill at the end of tonight will be in force immediately so people can get on with their jobs tomorrow and use the transition notices about the recovery periods that we can get happening to tidy up these areas. The second part is that it puts into legislation into law the fact that if a constable or an officer gives notice to a building operator or owner or the said person they must get a seismic assessment done on that building.I will have some questions for the Minister when we get to the Committee of the whole House. I am sure he will be able to answer them and we have signalled what those questions will be. They are around a situation where we have a building owner or an absent owner who (1) cannot afford to pay for a seismic assessment or (2) just flatly refuses to do so. I know there is some legislation that could potentially be used but certainly having an idea—forward planning—should that incident occur as to what are the right protocols to take place because of course those assessments will need to be done regardless. Does a council take a charge over that structure or does it get on and get the assessment done and then take a civil action against the building owner or operator? I think that needs to be looked at and addressed. I did say we have signalled that so I am sure that has come up.We are very very appreciative of the cross-party meeting that has taken place and some pragmatic solutions towards some of our concerns from New Zealand First relating to the practical criteria around what buildings will be expected to be assessed. For example you may have a pergola out there in Waikanae and an overzealous officer decides that we need to get that pergola checked and that is obviously a cost and an unnecessary one on some of those organisations people businesses etc. It could be a wooden structure that is on wooden piles it is 150 years old and is a hall. We would not expect some of those structures to be expected to come up with a seismic assessment which is an unnecessary cost.It does then come back to letting the people of New Zealand know because as the Minister has made it very clear this is not an attack on the landlords of New Zealand and New Zealand First is very very strongly in support of that ideology. But it is about making sure that they are better prepared and it does beg the question for those people involved in owning buildings and structures etc. that they make sure with their insurance company that (1) they have cover and (2) if they do not then that would certainly beg the question that they should start thinking about what sort of cover they may need to ensure that they are covered when a seismic assessment is done. Thank you for your time Mr Assistant Speaker. We will be watching this through the bill and supporting it through all stages. Thank you."