Browning SteffanSTEFFAN BROWNING (Green): I am speaking to the Hurunui/Kaikōura Earthquakes Emergency Relief Bill. There is a real need for this type of legislation and it is a very good example of cross-party agreement albeit clearly with a few exceptions. But it was very good during the times I was on the select committee to see how everybody was working together to come to some very good results.I would like to put my thoughts out to those people—Ngāti Kuri o Te Kaikōura—and to the communities north and south all the way up into Marlborough right up into the Blenheim area and even people in the Marlborough Sounds who were affected by this to some degree. People around Seddon have had so many impacts in the past—and the same for people around Ward—and really this comes only a few years after they were hit so hard before. This time it is right up through the Clarence down the Kaikōura coast the Kaikōura area and then North Canterbury. The people of Scargill and Waiau experienced those aftershocks that were so savage and effectively caused more trauma than the original shakes that occurred back on 14 November. This has had a massive social and economic impact and we are going to have to remain mindful of those communities for a long time to come.Back into the parts of this particular bill farmer after farmer has been affected—their stock water and domestic water their fencing roading and tracking. Just the next day I actually gave water to a farming family with a large farm. You would think they would have no problems with water. There is a lot of water on their property. But nearly everything was impacted and they had no certainty of water for their stock or for themselves at that time.This bill goes a long way to redressing some of that by giving them the opportunity to get in and do some quick remediation to look after their stock. But also increasingly I am finding that the domestic water supplies in these stations and farms are affected. Some I have just learnt of again today.While the remediation happens it is unfortunate that we did not get Eugenie Sage's amendment through. Even though this is time-limited legislation there is a recklessness or an opportunism that will come from it by some people who do not actually have the heart to care appropriately for their neighbours. To have no real legal redress is going to be unfortunate. We are going to be totally reliant on goodwill. There has been goodwill built as always happens in these emergencies but I do not know whether that will last for long enough and people will be totally ethical about their behaviour when they have the opportunities that this bill gives them.This affects in particular Environment Canterbury the Kaikōura District Council and the Marlborough District Council. I am hoping that they will when they are looking at clause 19 and at the people who need to be consulted on some of the actions broaden it out and make sure that there is proper opportunity for people to have at least a quick input. The committee report and then ultimately the legislation show very very well what the benefit of even a short term of submissions and consultation can be. The changes that were put into this through this little brief bit of submission time have been very very important.It is important in Kaikōura to get the harbours corrected—the works and the rock and the seabed—to ensure that the tenders the coastal tourism such as Whale Watch Kaikōura dolphin watch seal watch and others like the fisheries can have proper access out to the sea as they always did. It is good that fish was acknowledged and included in the things that had to be considered in terms of effects. The wider considerations are in there. It is good that there are changes to make sure that the comments from those people who will be consulted are considered and reported on.As I said there is a very real need for this bill. I can see the practicalities of it instantly. The Green Party is pleased to be supporting this bill. We will be looking ahead to the other legislation that is coming. We are concerned of course as we have heard in the submissions to this bill about some of the potential impacts particularly to pāua and the marine environment. We hope that that will be treated very very cautiously and carefully. But at the same time let us get those roads open let us get these farms operating well and let us make sure that we are looking to the other things that are not being considered by these bills. I have had people coming to me today—tourism operators. The tourists have totally gone. They are scared to go there yet the tourism operators could be operating their operation which is rafting in this case down the Clarence River. We need to be doing what we can to support those smaller operations to get back into gear as well. So it is the roadworks and all of that but there are other things we all need to be mindful of. My heart goes out to those people. The Green Party will support this bill. Thank you.