Cosgrove Clayton: Ministerial Statements — Earthquake—Christchurch Earthquake Christchurch—Extension of State of National Emergency 
Cosgrove Clayton: Ministerial Statements — Earthquake—Christchurch Earthquake Christchurch—Extension of State of National Emergency 
[Volume:670;Page:16959] 
Hon CLAYTON COSGROVE (Labour—Waimakariri) 
: 
 Nature has tested the people of Canterbury. It has literally shaken us to our core and the tragedies that have occurred are a knife in the heart of every Cantabrian and every Kiwi as a whole. But it has not broken us. We as Cantabrians thought that we had dodged the bullet the first time but as others have said our community has lost friends family members loved ones and mates. Many of us have seen things that we did not think we would see in our country. We have seen men and women in the eastern suburbs in the days after the quake walking through a combination of silt and sewage to get out of their homes and to some safety not having a bottle of water to wash it off. Others are like a woman in Cowles Stadium who said she had no home; she had lost everything. 
There have been of course the heroes. I recall at around 1 a.m. of day two going to the Hagley welfare centre and meeting a rather robust and tall St John Ambulance officer. I asked him how he was as he directed his troops and he said that most of his family were OK but he was worried about his dad. The officer would have been 60 so his dad would have been 85-odd. His father had gone into the city that day and the officer was not sure where he was. The manager of the Burnside welfare centre when asked how he was said his family was OK but he had lost his best mate—a mate with a family whose home was in Lyttelton. After the quake the friend drove to the Lyttelton tunnel. He could not get through it so he thought he would get to Lyttelton the old-fashioned way. He parked his car walked along the Bridle Path and was killed by a rogue boulder. He never made it home. Other heroes are like the chap called Senior Sergeant Roy Appley who together with Jayne Rattray and volunteers from Rangiora fed the eastern suburbs by air and by land for over a week and a half. 
I make a plea to the Government that those heroes need to be listened to. Those men and women and agencies on the ground need to be listened to in the coming days by the key decision makers who are deploying resources to where they are needed or should go. People like Roy Appley and others can tell us better than any memo as they stand on a street corner where the Portaloos should go where the hot meals are needed and where the love and comfort are required. 
So what do people want in our province of Canterbury? They want their dignity back they want their lives back but they also want cool-headed considered plans to be put in place for the recovery. They do not want knee-jerk reactions. They do not want speculative musings that if they are reported incorrectly can fill people with fear and confusion. They want a recovery plan that is not bureaucratic but inclusive; one that can be swiftly implemented but is inclusive of their community. And they want to be listened to. 
I conclude by reading the lyrics a mate of mine’s son sent me. They are from a song he wrote in his back bedroom a week before the quake. The song was originally to mark the death of his father but he rededicated it to the victims of the earthquake. As he put it it illustrates the pain and devastation of the folks in Canterbury. It is called “Streets of Heaven”. 
Not sure I can make it through the night 
As my eyelids are cut from all the crying. 
As the rain starts to fall  
I slump against the wall. 
It’s like someone took a knife to my life. 
It feels so cold without you now. 
Can I walk with you on the streets of Heaven 
Just like we used to do so long ago? 
Can I walk with you on the streets of Heaven 
Just for a while just to be with you again 
On the streets of Heaven? 
There is a dust cloud that hangs over Canterbury and it is a dust cloud that is filled and mixed with tears. It is hard to say this or for those folks who are living through this disaster even to perceive it but I say that Cantabrians will once again walk the streets of their great city and their great province hand in hand with their families and hand in hand with the spirits of the loved ones they have lost in a rebuilt and better city that reflects their strength their generosity of spirit and their sheer humanity. That I believe is the hope that all of us must cling to.