3. Earthquake Kaikōura—Government Response and Transport InfrastructureSTUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of Civil DefenceEarthquake Kaikōura—Government Response and Transport Infrastructure3. STUART SMITH (National—Kaikōura) to the Minister of Civil Defence: What has the Government been doing to ensure timely recovery for people and property following the Kaikōura earthquake?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister of Civil Defence): Three months on from the magnitude 7.8 earthquake on 14 November last year encouraging recovery progress is being made in affected South Island and North Island communities. The Government local authorities and others are working alongside not-for-profit organisations and businesses on a multipronged recovery effort. People's well-being and livelihoods are the top priority which is why the Government has provided financial assistance for temporary accommodation psychosocial support and services including health and education in those communities. Specifically the Government has committed $17.5 million to date in business support to Kaikōura Wellington and the Hurunui districts; $5 million in primary sector support; $3.7 million to boost health services in Kaikōura and Marlborough; $5 million to repair and upgrade the Kaikōura Harbour; a $3 million fund to subsidise reinforced masonry and facades; and a $500000 temporary accommodation allowance. The Government's response to Kaikōura and its troubles during this earthquake event has been swift and comprehensive and it will continue.Stuart Smith: What is the Government doing to open and repair transport links to the Kaikōura district?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Through the Minister of Transport the Government has committed $2 billion to reinstate the entire coastal highway route and the rail corridor to Kaikōura. We always believed that a concerted effort to plan and to engineer a response in a proper way and in a timely fashion would see a significant reduction in the early estimates of how long it might take. We hope this is proved right. We have passed an Order in Council thanks to the good grace of this House that will allow that work to go ahead with a consent. Machinery is arriving on site and clearance of those slips will begin very early next week. We have also made significant progress on other parts of the roading network. Before Christmas access to Kaikōura via State Highway 1 to the south of Kaikōura was restored. The inland route is now open to unrestricted travel and we have announced the opening of two temporary bridges on the alternative State Highway 7 route between Picton and Christchurch which will improve safety and reduce travel times as State Highway 1 is repaired. The New Zealand Transport Agency is continuing to repair and maintain the alternative State highway route for vehicles travelling through the Springs Junction - Lewis Pass route while the reinstatement work on State Highway 1 progresses.Stuart Smith: How has the Defence Force supported the rebuild and repair in response to the Kaikōura event?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The New Zealand Defence Force mobilised 815 personnel 11 aircraft and four ships to support the disaster relief operation in Kaikōura. It did a superb job right across the spectrum of the initial response from evacuation to welfare to physical works. It was of course assisted by their confrères in the Australian Defence Force the US defence force and the Canadian defence force. Right now the Defence Force has eight hydrographers operating out of Kaikōura surveying the seafloor and mapping the shifts caused by the earthquake. The result of the hydrographic survey will be used by Land Information to update the nautical charts for the Kaikōura Peninsula. The actual depths are now significantly shallower in parts and nautical charts no longer accurately allow safe navigation through the region but that will soon be remedied.