Parata Hekia: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
Parata Hekia: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:17159] 
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister for Ethnic Affairs) 
: 
 Tena koe e te Mana Whakawa otira ki a tatou o te Whare Paremata. Tenei te poroporoaki ki nga tangata ki nga whanau o Otautahi o tawahi hoki. E ai ki tetahi o nga rarangi i roto i te haka taparahi ara ko tenei: “Ko Ruaumoko e ngunguru nei au au aue ha!”. I runga ano i tera korero kei te mohio tatou ka rongo tonu tatou katoa i te mamae o nga tangata o tera wahi o Otautahi. Na reira he poroporoaki poto noa iho i tenei wa ki a ratou kua hipa atu i te po haere haere haere atu ra. Hoki mai ki a tatou te hunga ora tena koutou tena koutou tena koutou katoa. 
[ 
Greetings to you Mr Assistant Speaker and indeed to us of the House. This farewell tribute is to the people and families of Christchurch and to those from overseas as well. In the ceremonial haka there is a line that goes like this: “It is I Ruaumoko the earthquake god rumbling here; take care look out be warned!”. On the basis of that statement we know that we will all continue to experience the pain of the people of that place Christchurch. So this brief farewell gesture at this moment to those who have passed on into the void: farewell depart and journey on. I come back to us the living: greetings to you greetings to you and greetings to you all 
.]  
I join with every member of this House and with all New Zealanders in expressing our sadness for those families here in Aotearoa New Zealand who have lost loved ones and those families who face the tragedy of having either to come to New Zealand or to wait in their home countries to receive back members of their families. We acknowledge that the pain that has been experienced by everyone will take much longer to go away than the days we have experienced so far and indeed will last beyond the commemorative day next Friday that the Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill puts in place. But part of the process is that we have the opportunity to come together formally as a nation to recognise the grief sadness and loss in Canterbury and to begin the healing that will be part of the restoration and recovery of Christchurch and the strengthening of communities in and around Canterbury Te Wai Pounamu and New Zealand. 
I went to Christchurch last week and had the opportunity to visit ethnic communities who were responding with the same resilience that has characterised the entire response of Cantabrians to this tragedy. Those communities where English is not the first language were coping with their own particular and special challenges. In situations of stress understanding the different cultural cues of a different culture provides another layer of complexity to the way that those communities can respond. Nevertheless they were binding together sharing resources amongst and between themselves taking succour in their own cultural and religious practices and gaining access to the services that are available to all New Zealanders. 
I had the opportunity also to visit the women’s refuges and to see again the strong work that that group of women does both in normal times and in abnormal times. They responded as did everyone else to the needs of their particular communities and they will continue to require support. One of the by-products of stress is sometimes violence towards those closest to us. In recognising that that happens it is important to acknowledge that it is no more acceptable in times of tragedy than it is at any other time. We must continue to provide support to organisations like Women’s Refuge to meet the demands of the situation. 
I also had the opportunity to visit Orion the company responsible for getting electricity back up throughout Christchurch. Its own building was rendered uninhabitable by the earthquake. It operated from a marquee under an oak tree and subsequently in prefabricated buildings that had been trucked in to allow it to work to get the electricity network up and going again. I pay tribute to those workers; as has been remarked on by other speakers many many of the workers whoever they were—whether working on restoring power lines or water or for the Red Cross or the Salvation Army—were themselves directly affected by the earthquake. Despite that they went out and provided the work that was needed to begin the restoration and recovery of Christchurch. 
Finally I mention the volunteers. They have been an example to all of us of how well New Zealanders respond to the needs of their neighbours and to the needs of communities. Volunteers who live close to Christchurch and others who have travelled from other parts of New Zealand have gone there to help in this time of need. It is really important that we maintain the spirit of Kiwi voluntarism. It is important that we acknowledge the contribution that has been made by those volunteers and that will continue to be made and it is important that we recognise that there will be an ongoing need for volunteers in the weeks and months ahead of us. 
I join with the rest of this House in supporting the passage of this bill. Although it may not be legally necessary it gives us the opportunity to come together as a parliamentary community to recognise and respect the need for us as a nation to stand as our Prime Minister has said shoulder to shoulder with the people of Canterbury. I commend this bill to the House.