7. Question No. 7—Emergency ManagementSARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Acting Minister for Emergency ManagementQuestion No. 7—Emergency Management7. SARAH PALLETT (Labour—Ilam) to the Acting Minister for Emergency Management: How is the Government responding to the Canterbury floods?Hon KRIS FAAFOI (Acting Minister for Emergency Management): Talofa lava Mr Speaker. The Government is supporting the Canterbury region as it responds and recovers from the significant flooding event. Police Fire and Emergency New Zealand the Ministry of Social Development Te Puni Kōkiri the National Emergency Management Agency among many agencies have assisted in the response alongside personnel and equipment from the New Zealand Defence Force. The Ministry for Primary Industries is coordinating rural recovery support the Ministry of Education is supporting schools kura and early learning centres as damage is being assessed and Waka Kotahi is supporting the repair and recovery of significant damage to the transport network. As announced on Monday an initial contribution of $100000 to support the region has been made through the mayoral relief fund and yesterday my colleague Minister O'Connor announced that the Government has classified the Canterbury floods as a medium-scale adverse event unlocking funding of $500000 to support farmers and growers in the region.Sarah Pallett: How well has the overall civil defence emergency management system performed in the event?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: The response has been very well managed at a local regional and national level. The Canterbury regional civil defence emergency management group has been leading response efforts and I would like to acknowledge the group controller Neville Reilly who has demonstrated calm and effective leadership on the ground and acknowledge those who staffed emergency operation centres over the weekend and the beginning of this week. The National Emergency Management Agency national coordination centre remains activated in support of the response alongside local coordination centres in Christchurch Timaru Ashburton Selwyn Mackenzie and Waimakariri. I would also like to thank the Canterbury region mayors who came together swiftly to work with the whole region over the weekend to plan for and respond to the flooding event.Sarah Pallett: What role have the local community and volunteers played in the response?Hon KRIS FAAFOI: Cantabrians have demonstrated once again why responses to local emergencies are best led at the local level. Canterbury-based first responders Ngāi Tahu Federated Farmers the Hakatere Koukourārata and Tuahiwi Marae and community and rural leaders including the Rural Support Trust St John Red Cross and many other organisations and individuals were critical to the response. I want to thank all those families and friends and neighbours who took in evacuees over the weekend helped clear debris and even in some cases saved lives. I especially want to thank the hundreds of volunteers like those that I met at the civil defence centre at the Mandeville Sports Club and also those at the Ashburton and Waimakariri emergency operation centres. There is a significant recovery ahead for affected communities and Government agencies are well involved in that.