Korako NukNUK KORAKO (National): Malo malo e lelei. E Te Mana Whakawā huri noa e Te Whare nei e mihi atu ki a koutou katoa. I too want to acknowledge all the previous speakers and those that have actually in their kōrero remembered either those that have gone because of the earthquakes or particularly those who have been affected as well. I say that because on Sunday which was Father's Day as we all know my whānau and I went to Rāpaki. Early that morning when the earthquake hit the 15 houses that are there 39-odd people that is where we all actually came out of our houses and came together. I can remember in the dark as we were moving through the village the kāika just checking on how our whānau were. Were there any injuries? There was a lot of fear though because walking down the road our mauka Te Poho o Tamatea Pōkai Whenua—we could hear the shingle or the rocks actually coming down the mountain. So we actually met over there just to remember some of those very fearful incidents that took place eight years ago.Then this morning I was at Ngāi Tūāhuriri Tuahiwi. It wasn't so much about remembering the eighth anniversary but it was also there that we were talking about the effects of the earthquakes—first of all the first one back in September eight years ago but also the main one as well in February. But we were actually talking through with Regenerate Christchurch about the incredible programme that's going on there—the project that they're looking at around the Ōtākaro. So all of this is a direct reflection of what had happened eight years ago and also moving through to the real bad one in February the following year.I've heard also a lot of the discussions here. The previous speaker my whanauka Rino Tirikatene did also mention the fact about the glass being either half full or half empty. I think the important thing here though is that what these Christchurch earthquakes and a lot of the legislation that has come out of the Christchurch earthquakes—I think one thing that we can all be proud of right across the House is the fact that there has been that legislation right from the beginning and all the way through to try to actually find better ways to ensure that those that were affected by death loss of property or mental health have actually been as much as we can actually do in this House in some ways addressed.So it is indeed my pleasure to talk about the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal Bill on the first reading. As our previous speakers on this side of the House have said we do support this bill with some major reservations and so are supporting it through to select committee because as we all know the select committee process is a process where we can all work together to make this bill a much better bill than what it is now. The reason for that is because there are some reservations as has been well articulated by my colleagues on this side of the House. The major one is particularly around consultation—particularly around consultation. I think the important thing though with us on this side is let's just have a look and put some of the results or some of the themes in context that I don't think have actually been discussed or actually highlighted here.I want to talk about the last nine years that we were in Government and particularly when we were addressing the huge issues post-earthquakes. When you look at that—particularly with the legislation but also around the Earthquake Commission (EQC) and insurance companies. I'm based in the Port Hills in Christchurch. Obviously the name suggests that that is actually the very hilly area between the Canterbury Plains Waitaha Whakatekateka o Waitaha and then across those hills you have the beautiful Te Pātaka o Rakaihautū or Banks Peninsula. On those hills are really where a lot of the very hard and technical cases are that we've been working through. So that's why in some ways we do support this bill but let's get it moving to select committee so we can hear more submissions and more kōrero on this bill.I just want to reiterate for the record that as a proud Cantabrian yes—and I watch with real concern of post-earthquake trauma and all of that. But also I think it's important that we—the National Government—did work very very hard and that is why when you look at the stats today that is a true reflection of that: 98.5 percent of these claims have actually been settled—and that's a Ministry of Justice number. The remaining 1.5 percent are already under consideration through the Residential Advisory Service EQC and Southern Response. Of the remaining approximately 3000 dwelling claims 20 percent are already on a clear pathway to settlement. A further 36 are being considered for cash settlement right now by the claimants.What I'm saying here is that one of the reasons possibly that there was not a lot of consultation is that even the Ministry of Justice officials are struggling with this bill because they've said this is a misconceived poorly thought through 'seat-of-the-pants' policy that runs roughshod over natural justice." And that's what it's about: natural justice as well. Going through the select committee process of this will actually bring this out. But I think the important thing with this bill though is that it's going to take possibly two or three years before anything's going to happen on this bill.Basically one of the reasons why there's no consultation is because the officials would have probably said "It's already happening." It's already happening. So why would you want to put another process in place when it's already happening? We know the answer to that: because this was an election promise. But unfortunately it's just put another layer on it—another layer that will hold up a lot of the great work that is going on which will actually assist these people to have a final settlement.Even though on this side of the House we believe strongly that this bill is not really needed what we're going to do again—as we have supported the people of Canterbury and Kaikōura—and what we have done is continue to support them by supporting this bill. We will actually work hard to ensure that this bill is going to be better than what it is here at the moment and that is why we're supporting it.As someone from Waitaha from Canterbury and as someone actually that has been in this Parliament during these terrible periods of rū whenua it is indeed my pleasure to be able to say that we support this bill to select committee. Kia ora. E mihi atu ki a koutou katoa."