O'Connor Damien; Salesa JennyHon DAMIEN O'CONNOR (Minister of Agriculture): Look thank you Madam Speaker. And just in response to that speaker Simeon Brown they had their chance and they failed miserably.It's an honour to be able to speak to the Prime Minister's statement. I want to acknowledge the incoming Prime Minister. It hasn't been easy; it's been pretty choppy for Chippy I have to say. I would like to acknowledge the previous Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern a good friend to us all who put five years of her life into improving this nation. I want to put that on the record.We have been hit by a couple of cyclones by events that we are told that we have to get used to. That's a very sad statement and it's no comfort at all for the people who are in the Hawke's Bay who are in Northland who are in Pukekohe who are in the Bay of Plenty—people who are trying to gather their lives let alone rebuild them. Our sympathy must go out for the families of those who have lost loved ones. We need to offer support for the shocked people who have been through trauma that we could hardly imagine in darkness on their roofs in their ceilings trying to save or keep hold of loved ones. It is shocking.But what we have committed to and we will do is offer resources for the recovery—firstly for the response and I think we've seen that on the ground. I want to acknowledge all my colleagues who are still at the forefront of that in these regions—but for the recovery there will be the requirement for a lot. There's no doubt about that. The previous speaker was talking about infrastructure—infrastructure that hasn't been kept up to speed that will need to be rebuilt and while we might talk about rebuilding better I think the people and the families on the ground at the moment just want to get back up and running. And so talk of building back better I think is something for the future. We as a Government have been prepared to take on those tough challenges.For the primary sector particularly those who have been really hard hit they should firstly take some pride in where they have taken this economy to—$55 billion was projected to be earned for this country from those good families from those people out in the primary sectors by June this year. I hope it won't take too much of a hit from the cyclone but they should be proud of that and then be reassured that we will work alongside them in those areas that have been affected to build back up that capacity. It may not be in exactly the same place; because we have a responsibility as a Government and I'm sure it will be driven a little by the insurance companies—and can I put on the record that the insurance companies and the banks must be part of this recovery.The banks have walked away with record profits from the hard work of each and every New Zealander because we all pay in some way directly or indirectly and we appreciate the stability of the banks and the support that they've given us. But they have walked away with record profits and now is the time to step up and to stand alongside the people who may be facing zero income who may still face debts and who will still need working capital to get up and running. Time to front up I say. Time to front up and show a commitment from those banks to our economy and to the primary producers—those people and their families who all work 26 hours a day which is what most of them have done in tough times—to get back up and running. And rebuilding our economy in the regions will generate wealth creation into the future.In terms of Government we've put $250 million today it was announced yesterday into the roading network—vital infrastructure. We'll work alongside the communications companies to make sure that connections can occur and we'll have to have a Plan B. There are new technologies and I think farmers or those living in remote areas—in fact even if you're living in urban areas and I acknowledge actually the damage that has occurred to the people of Auckland in the urban areas as well so I'm not dismissing that. But it is a bit harder if you're remote and you don't have any other connection. You can't walk across the street and talk to someone. We're going to have to work on plans to ensure that communication is better as we move into the future.There are many many things for us to do. We have the ability to do that but we'll do it in partnership. The Government will step up the communities will step up local government will step up. We want the insurance companies to step up and provide the insurance moving forward but the banks also to step alongside all of those people who will require some consideration and some working capital as they move forward.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): I call on the Hon David Parker for five minutes.