Mallard Trevor: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
Mallard Trevor: Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill — Procedure First Reading Second Reading Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:670;Page:17148] 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Labour—Hutt South) 
: 
 I indicate again without any surprise that Labour will support the second reading of the Canterbury Earthquake Commemoration Day Bill and will support the bill going through tonight. I acknowledge the speeches that were made after mine. I know that is slightly unusual after the first reading. In particular I commend the eloquent speech my colleague Mr Flavell made. He expressed much of what he said as being for Maori but I think much of what he said applies to all New Zealanders. The importance of having the dead to commemorate and memorialise is important. He made some comments about the timing of the commemoration and getting that right. Although we are heading for a parliamentary unified outcome in the end the date is the Government’s decision. We understand that a certain amount of the timing has been driven by the availability of international visitors so we acknowledge that and we accept that this is going to happen. 
But I think this leaves us with a question about what happens later. I think we should take time—months or even years—to decide how we want to remember this occasion. I will also mention Pike River because proportionately in community size that was an enormous tragedy too. I hate to think of putting labels on tragedy but it is almost like we will have to make some sort of memorial arrangements for the South Island tragedies of 2010 and 2011. It may be that people with better linguistic skills than mine can develop a label for that and we can head towards some sort of commemoration on a regular basis. As I said earlier I think too often we think of physical commemorations and we have to find ways of thinking more deeply than that. I indicate to the Minister of Labour that she might have a bit of work to do in Christchurch. I have just seen a comment that has come through from local business people who have some anxiety about the timing of the commemoration. I think it is important that she works hard to get them on board with this. 
I did not think I ever would have felt supportive of “red and black”. I am a strong Wellingtonian and when it comes to it at least as far as New Zealand is concerned in the National Provincial Championship I support Wellington and anyone who is playing Canterbury. We have seen the fervour of some of us watching the rugby match last Friday night. I send our best wishes to the Crusaders and if they can do the London thing I think that would be a wonderful opportunity for the tens—or hundreds—of thousands of New Zealanders in Europe. If they have an opportunity to be brought together on that sort of occasion I think that would be superb. It is an opportunity to get together and remember but it is also related to an event that shows some of the best of Canterbury. Although I do not always want the Crusaders to win I acknowledge the fact that they regularly do. I certainly hope they will on that occasion. 
I do not know whether the Minister in charge of the bill has given a briefing in this area yet but it might be an opportunity for her to give some further explanation around the international fund that Mr Weldon has been engaged to work on for the next 4 to 6 weeks. Getting the pitch of it right is very important. We cannot be seen to be in a situation like Haiti. We are not. We are not a poor country and we have to be very very careful not to be seen to be begging for others to do what is our responsibility to put right. I understand that a figure of $2 billion has been set by the Prime Minister as the objective of the fund. I think we need to be very clear right from the outset about the use of that money. In my opinion it should be used for extra things—not to replace things but used for things that were not there before—in order to make Christchurch a better and more attractive place. 
Like many of us in the last couple of weeks with Parliament not sitting I have had a little bit of time on my hands. I have had a look at the articles about Kobe and what happened there. It was a double disaster. There was an earthquake and then effectively there was an abandonment of the city by some of its leadership and some of the city’s most important people. As a result Kobe has effectively become a low-income refuge. I was discussing that situation this morning with one of the leading young brains of Canterbury whose name is not unfamiliar to this place. James Caygill said he was confident that that situation would not happen in Canterbury and that there are people of his generation and younger who are so firmly Cantabrians that they will stay. 
However I just want to signal that I think there is a danger that people are scared and that as a result they might stay away and there is also the possibility that many of the opportunities that people need might not now be available in Christchurch. So as we rebuild Christchurch we have to think of ways of rebuilding the city’s people strength. Some of my initial thoughts for the Minister would involve some very well-endowed chairs at the university so that some of the best professors from around the world could be attracted to Canterbury for either a shorter term or a longer term in order to rebuild the university. A similar approach could be taken to PhD scholarships so that we can get people to come to Christchurch even if it is for only 4 or 5 years. 
I am glad Mr Joyce has returned to the Chamber because I am working on the assumption that he has responsibility for international education. I give him one little piece of advice. A couple of times in the past after crises with international students—and this has not been very public—we have found it very worthwhile to send a Minister of Education to China quite early in the process in order to give some explanations there. Those in both China and Japan have very much appreciated that. I think in the interests of longer-term relationships that if we are seen to be sending senior personnel there even if for only a day to meet with officials and with whichever family members can be gathered there it would be very much appreciated. Not only do we have to look after our own commemorations but we have to acknowledge that a significant proportion of the people who have died are not from New Zealand. We need to ensure that that is acknowledged and that those relationships are maintained.