Shaw James; McAnulty KieranHon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): Thank you Mr Speaker. The Green Party also supports the declaration of a state of emergency in response to Cyclone Gabrielle. I do want to thank the Government and the Minister for the decisive and comprehensive course of action that they are taking in response to this crisis.I have to say that just when we thought we had had our worst climate-related disaster in this country only two weeks ago we are now facing an even more significant challenge. Last week I went up to Auckland and saw the damage and saw the work that community organisations have been doing including visiting a house that had been lifted completely off its foundations by the force of the water and shunted across its sections.I have to say that as I stand here today I struggle to find words to express what I am thinking and feeling about this particular crisis. I don't think I've ever felt as sad or as angry about the lost decades that we spent bickering and arguing about whether climate change was real or not whether it was caused by humans or not whether it was bad or not whether we should do something about it or not because it is clearly here now and if we do not act it will get worse.I've been recalling actually a quote from a different time about a different crisis: The era of procrastination of half measures of soothing and baffling expedience of delays is coming to its close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences." And there will be people who say—just as the National Rifle Association in the United States does about shootings over there—it's "too soon" to talk about these things but we are standing in it right now. This is a climate change - related event. The severity of it of course made worse by the fact that our global temperatures have already increased by 1.1 degrees. We need to stop making excuses for inaction. We cannot put our heads in the sand when the beach is flooding. We must act now.I do have and my caucus do have some questions. Is he confident that emergency management operations can learn from these events and improve responses to future climate-related extreme weather?Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister for Emergency Management): I am. By virtue of process there is always a review of each response no matter the size. There is always lessons to be learnt. Lessons don't always come from mistakes but they always come from responses. We'll be taking all lessons on board as we always do.Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): Thank you. What information if any has he received on the impacts of these events for people who are on lower incomes and in less secure housing?Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister for Emergency Management): Well I've seen with my own eyes—and other Ministers have reported from their engagement with communities as have members from across the House—that there is no doubt that when these severe weather events occur it is often lower-income communities rural communities and isolated communities that are impacted the hardest.Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green): What measures are in place to ensure that support is simple to access and responsive to everyone's needs particularly for marginalised people such as those with disabilities those without current visas or those who are not fluent in English?Hon KIERAN McANULTY (Minister for Emergency Management): I think the announcement made by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Social Development and Employment the Hon Carmel Sepuloni yesterday demonstrated that there is awareness of the need for welfare provisions in particular marginalised communities. I think members will also recognise that the communication efforts throughout this response targeting those from the disability community have been improved substantially from the start."