Sage EugenieHon EUGENIE SAGE (Minister of Conservation): Tēnā koe Madam Deputy Speaker thank you. The Green Party's very pleased to support the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal Bill. I am astounded at the National Party and their callous approach to the thousands of households where claims have not been resolved in Christchurch. Their opposition to this bill which is seeking to put in place a speedy flexible process recognising the attributes of tribunals—instead the National Party is opposing it. That is just beyond belief.They are opposing the ability of this new tribunal to actually resolve these claims—to get rid of the frustration the exhaustion that those people who still have outstanding claims feel. It's been developed to be homeowner initiated. It has got in place a number of safeguards. The previous speaker Jacqui Dean seemed to be ignoring the fact that the tribunal is able to actually get its own expert independent advisers to assist to understand the technical aspects. The previous speaker was ignoring the fact that the tribunal can refer points of law to the High Court for advice to ensure that there is sound and consistent decision making.But the whole point in establishing this tribunal is to give power back to homeowners to give power back to people who've been frustrated by the court process and to ensure that they can appear in a forum before a tribunal which is a little less formal than a court process which has an ability to ask questions to make inquiries to call for further evidence to bring the parties together and to get these matters which have gone on for years resolved. That is the point of this tribunal: to get resolution to put these cases to bed; and that's why this tribunal is absolutely necessary. As Mark Patterson noted this Government has already provided the funding in Budget 2018 to ensure that the tribunal is able to get up and running quickly as soon as this bill is through the House.One of the key aspects and benefits of the tribunal is that people do not need to have legal representation when they appear in front of it. That increases access to justice. So the National Party seems to be thinking that it is better to deny people justice to require them to go to court and the expense that that can often involve. Instead with this tribunal people can represent themselves. Often they will be in the best position to do that because it's their homes that have been affected. It provides access to mediation which can involve bringing the parties around the table finding out what are the key issues in dispute and working collectively to resolve those.The tribunal can be proactive. It will manage cases through the process and set time frames that must be followed so that the claims progress. That is one of the inadequacies of the current system—that things have just been left in limbo. So this is a very effective response to the several thousand cases that are still unresolved. It will be speedy it will be flexible and it will be cost-effective. It's about this Government responding to real need rather than doing what the National Opposition wants—closing its ears and just requiring people to go before the courts. It will replace the Residential Advisory Service and it is bringing everything together into one body. It will apply the existing law and it will be effective. The Green Party is very pleased to support it rather than as the Opposition is doing seeking to deny people access to justice because it's requiring everybody go through the court system.