Kaye Nikki: General DebateText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeKaye Nikki: General Debate[Sitting date: 18 March 2015. Volume:704;Page:2361. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon NIKKI KAYE (Minister of Civil Defence): It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. The first thing I want to do is address a couple of issues that were raised by the previous speaker Ms Ardern. To get a lecture from the Labour Party about what the people are saying in Northland is ridiculous. There have been no Labour MPs there for a very long time because they are not campaigning there. They have left Willow-Jean Prime under a bus and we know that. I was doorknocking there at the weekend and I can tell you what they have been saying. Many people do believe that National has done more than any other Government but the reality is that the people of Northland do need more and the reality is that they do understand that there are more free doctors visits for under-13-year-olds and more money to fix their schools. There are a number of schools that have been fixed up in Northland. We have made more of an investment than ever before in terms of those schools. There is more money in early childhood centres. There is more money to insulate houses.So a huge amount has been done but the reality is that it is actually at times like this when we see the situation with Cyclone Pam that we see the best of New Zealand. I have seen the best of New Zealand over this period. It is the case that it was communities like Northland that won the civil defence award this year. They won that award because despite massive challenges in terms of weather we saw communities rally together and help others. We have seen that in spades across New Zealand over this period.If I have learnt three things as the Minister of Civil Defence it is this. The first is that our hearts go out to the people of Vanuatu for everything they are dealing with. Some of the unsung heroes in New Zealand in terms of civil defence are our engineers. What we do know in this country is that sometimes the difference between having massive loss of life and people being saved is the buildings. We have seen that in Vanuatu. One of the most powerful moments I have had as a member of Parliament was sitting with the Minister from Haiti and talking about an event similar to Christchurch’s earthquakes. We lost several hundred people; they lost more than 250000. That is the difference so I want to pay tribute to the engineers of this country.The second thing is I want to say is what an amazing job so many regions across New Zealand did to prepare for this event. We had evacuations in parts of Gisborne. We had so many community groups on the ground doing amazing things. In the Chatham Islands they still have a local state of emergency. I want to acknowledge the mayor and the civil defence staff for what they are doing over there. They are still getting a bit of a battering but we will be there to help them.So my message is that this is a Government that cares. We have demonstrated in many communities—whether it is through under-13-year-olds going to the doctor for free or whether it is through our investment in early childhood education or fixing more schools than ever before—that we do care. But often we see the best of communities right across New Zealand at a time like a civil defence emergency when the only reason that we get through these events is that communities rally not just the people in Wellington who are doing things from a civil defence perspective.We have seen the best of New Zealand and that is why I am very proud to be the Minister of Civil Defence and to be seeing so many people on the ground helping others at a time like this. Part of that is due to some of the changes we have put in place like shifting the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management into the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet so that agencies across New Zealand rally at a time like this.So I want to acknowledge the people of Northland for winning that civil defence award this year. I want to acknowledge the many families I have met through my doorknocking and the fact that they have acknowledged what this Government has done. But I also acknowledge that there is more to do there in terms of investing in education and infrastructure and  with a National MP we are the only Government that can provide that.I also want to acknowledge all of the people across New Zealand who have helped others through this period including the people of the Chathams who are going through quite a bit at this point in time.