Ministerial Statements — Earthquake—Kaikōura and Hanmer Springs

I wish to make a ministerial statement under Standing Order 356 in relation to yesterday’s 7.5 magnitude earthquake. But before I do, I seek leave for the leaders of parties not specified in Standing Order 357, or their representatives, to also comment following my statement.

💬 Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought for leaders of the smaller parties to participate. Is there any objection to that course of action? There is none.

Just after midnight on Monday, 14 November 2016 New Zealand was struck by another severe earthquake. The magnitude 7.5 earthquake was one of the largest ever. It was 16 kilometres deep and centred near Hanmer Springs. It was felt throughout much of the country and the subsequent aftershocks continue to keep many New Zealanders on edge. The damage is serious. Two people have lost their lives and their families are grieving. Our thoughts, of course, are with them. Others are living without power and in damaged homes. In Kaikōura, communities have been cut off, there is no running water or sewerage, supplies have been limited, and the phone coverage is unreliable. It is a reminder to always be prepared. My message to those communities is that the rest of New Zealand is standing alongside you to provide whatever support you need in the coming days, weeks, and months.

Yesterday I saw for myself the damage wrought on southern roads and train lines, and I spoke with those on the ground dealing with the aftermath and response. I have also seen the efforts of civil defence staff here in Wellington coordinating the national efforts. Our police have helped keep our affected communities safe and calm, and our Defence Force has been on the ground and in the air since shortly after the quake struck, carrying people and supplies where needed. Along with our firefighters and emergency medical staff and local volunteers, they are doing an extraordinary job. Can I thank all of those who responded so quickly and so comprehensively to the disaster and continue to do so. Can I also thank all of the leaders and Governments from around the world for their messages of support and offers of assistance. Thanks in particular to the United States and Japan, which are helping with the relief effort.

Supplies and expertise are now flowing into affected areas. Vital services are being restored, those who are stuck are being evacuated, and we are gaining a better understanding of the damage. That damage is extensive, but New Zealand is well placed to respond, and we are well practised.

We have been presented with yet another challenge, but, as we have done time and again, we will rise to that challenge and we will rebuild. We will repair our roads, rail, and other infrastructure, and we will help our affected communities. We will get a better understanding of exactly what happened and we will be even better prepared for next time. Although this is an unpleasant thought, it is the reality of living here, and New Zealanders must always bear that in mind. It is an unavoidable fact that New Zealand is prone to earthquakes, but with each quake we have improved our response, and you have seen that again in the last 36 hours.

As Prime Minister, I rarely feel a greater sense of pride or see our national character and resolve as clearly on display than in times of crises. As a country, we are known for our resilience, our generosity, our commitment, and our willingness to pick ourselves up and carry on even in the most trying of times. It is a credit to all Kiwis.

To those New Zealanders and our international visitors in affected areas, you have my absolute assurance that we are doing, and will continue to do, everything we can to support you. The financial cost will be significant, but we will bear that. Our books are in order and our debt levels low, so we have the financial capacity to fix our broken infrastructure and to support our affected businesses and communities. We have been here before and we have overcome those challenges. We are stronger as a result, and I can assure you we will do the same this time.

I rise to support the Government in its resolution and the motion it has put before the House. We gather here, of course, in a spirit of post - civic disaster calm and agreeability, but I want to say that it is the preference, certainly of the Labour Party, to see the Prime Minister, Acting Minister of Civil Defence, and others involved in the recovery and repair responsibilities to get on and be able to do that without undue impediment from the responsibilities of this House.

This was not just a Hanmer Springs or Culverden or Kaikōura earthquake; this was a New Zealand earthquake. It was felt from the bottom of the South Island up to the Waikato, and apart from, perhaps, those living in Auckland and the North, there would not be many New Zealanders who did not feel the tremors and the shakes early on Monday morning.

Everyone has a story to tell, and I know, here in Wellington in my household, we were woken by it. Our house is just inside the Island Bay tsunami zone, so when the warning about tsunamis went up, my household made the decision to vacate and go to higher ground, although I have to confess that my vote on doing so was the last to be recorded. I had to be dragged out of bed because, like many men who suffered the experience of the earthquake, I tended to weigh up the warmth and comfort of my bed being a better prospect than getting through the tsunami, which I guessed might not eventuate. As we always tell ourselves, we were right anyway. But, anyway, we got through that experience.

My son, who had his NCEA science exam later that morning, was not only fully participating in the evacuation but then, when we had got back and got back to bed, he woke up with energy and determination to do his exam yesterday morning, too. We will come back to questions about, perhaps, the way that issue was managed at the time, and it is no reflection on the Ministers, but, I think, for many families with teenagers involved in NCEA, we would like to see some consistency of decision making so that every child is treated the same and fairly.

For an earthquake of lengthy duration and growing intensity, as we all felt, it was amazing that we have not heard of more stories of significant structural and building damage. I am sure there is more to come out as buildings are inspected and as those with apartments and flats are yet to give due consideration to what has happened to their dwellings. But let us not forget, as the Prime Minister has acknowledged, that there were two deaths as a result of the earthquake, and casualties as well.

I know, of course, there will be time to review what has happened—that is the right and proper thing to do. From my observation—and I got the chance to go around the Wellington Emergency Management Office yesterday—the response from the authorities and those handling the emergency response and the follow-up to it was very, very good. What I saw in the Wellington Emergency Management Office yesterday were dedicated professionals, who were able to respond quickly and in a very timely fashion to people’s concerns and to provide the assurances that were sorely needed by many members of the public.

I was grateful to be able to accompany the Prime Minister and the Acting Minister of Civil Defence yesterday as they took a flight to survey the damage in the worst-affected area, on the east coast of the South Island. As the Prime Minister has also said, that damage is huge, and it will take many weeks and months, at least, to clear the roads and get the rail links back open again. The forces that collapsed entire cliff faces, ripped apart roads, and destroyed pastoral land were truly awesome forces.

The township of Kaikōura, where we ended up yesterday, is the hardest hit. It is presently cut off from road and rail links, and the lifting of its harbour as a consequence of the earthquake may limit connection by sea, at least for some time. But talking to Kaikōura locals yesterday, what was encouraging is how their immediate response was to take the situation in their stride. Many I spoke to talked about reaching out to their neighbours, checking on elderly, and checking on those around them to see that they were all right. As I asked many of them “So how are you bearing up?”, they had no thought for themselves; it was about the others in the community. One of their biggest concerns is, of course, the large number of stranded tourists and travellers, who are now wondering how they are going to get out of that beautiful part of New Zealand.

It was a classic situation where Kiwis rise to an occasion and express the best of Kiwi values: reaching out and helping each other, and sticking together. They were doing that in Kaikōura, as they were doing that in many other parts of New Zealand affected by the earthquake yesterday.

There will be long-term issues for Kaikōura. This is a town that is dependent on traveller and tourist traffic and that looks like it is going to be disrupted for months to come. I know the Government is thinking about how to respond to that, and it will have our support for practical, meaningful measures that will help those businesses get through what could be a very lean time, not the least of which will be during its peak season coming up. We look forward to working with the Government to support and sustain the communities most affected by this civic disaster and to see New Zealanders once again rise to this occasion in their typical way.

Tēnā koe, Mr Speaker. The Green Party joins in supporting the sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister and the leader of the Labour Party. No matter how many thousands of earthquakes one has experienced, they are still enormously scary—that rush of adrenalin, the pounding heart when you go through it—and this one was different because so many New Zealanders felt that hideous aftershock and the quake itself in the early hours of Monday morning.

We have seen already a tremendous response by volunteers in North Canterbury, Kaikōura, Marlborough, Wellington, and elsewhere. We have done this before, in Christchurch. The community and professional emergency services have responded. They have reached out to deal with the broken homes and the broken-hearted people, and to provide support and reassurance. We live in the Shaky Isles. We have come through the Christchurch quakes—those thousands of quakes—and we are thinking now of the North Canterbury and Marlborough communities and what support they need.

The Green Party joins with the Government, joins with the Labour Party, and joins with all the parties present in this Parliament to be open to requests for assistance and for changes to legislation. Some of the legislation that we have recently debated in this Parliament—the building and earthquake-strengthening legislation, the civil defence and emergency management legislation—is intended to improve the way in which we respond.

Nature’s forces are awesome to everyone who has seen those photos of the rock slides, the damage, and the land separation that the earthquakes have caused. But we get through this by acting as a community, by opening our hearts and reaching out to others, and by connecting and working together to respond to people’s needs—the urgent ones and the longer-term ones. We will get through this together. We will do whatever we can to support those who are experiencing the distress post-quake. We can rebuild better. Thank you.

“Shaken but not broken” was the theme of the tragic Christchurch and Canterbury earthquakes, and the people in Culverden, Kaikōura, Hanmer Springs, Parnassus, Seddon, Ward, Wairau, and Cheviot have been shaken terribly. We can only be thankful that further lives were not lost and that greater numbers of people were not seriously injured.

New Zealand First commends the work of our emergency services and Defence Force personnel, who were quickly on the scene and who have done much great work since the earthquake struck shortly after midnight on Sunday evening. We saw in the Christchurch earthquakes how people came together as well. They are supporting each other and they are putting self-interest aside. People are still in shock—many have no power, no water, no flushing toilets—and so it is a time when political parties have to put our differences aside to ensure that all is being done to help people to recover physically and psychologically. Central government and local government must cooperate and do their bit. As I said, we learnt a great deal from Christchurch and Canterbury. These lessons must now be used to help the people of North Canterbury, Kaikōura District, and Marlborough to get their regions back on their feet.

Last night Angus McKay of Emergency Management Southland warned that if the Alpine Fault ruptured, it would, in his words, “change life in New Zealand”. We live in a country prone to earthquakes and events such as this, and we should therefore be as ready and prepared as we best can. Perhaps it is time for a “quake safe our houses” approach as a national campaign.

One or two things—not to introduce a discordant note, but the rail and road links between Christchurch and Picton have got to be restored, even if we are looking at an alternative in the long term. Building an alternative in the long term and neglecting what is there now simply would let those regions down, dramatically. What I want to say is that when the immediate concerns are sorted out—and let us remember that this could take a long time—we need to consider closely the whole road, rail, and shipping strategy for the upper South Island and the lower North Island, as well as the rest of the country. There must not be an emphasis—which we have seen—on the use of just one utility such as road transport.

Could I just say that we have arrived at a time, as a nation, when we must look at having a cohesive, viable, long-term transportation strategy. This was exposed, again, in the events of Sunday evening. We have to plan in full cognisance of the fact that we are a country susceptible to earthquakes and natural disasters. The economic cost to this country is too great to have a half-baked system or an inadequate system, and we must do our utmost to push aside vested interests and do what is in the national interest, and in the regional interest, as well.

One sad note is the observation of looting that took place as a result of this event, as it did in Christchurch. We did not take the opportunity when it happened in Christchurch to do something about it as a Parliament, and we are all responsible. None of us who were here at the time is exempt. But this time we should do something about it. We are not talking—from my party’s perspective—of sending people to prison. No. It is giving them a shovel and a pick, and putting them out there 6 days a week so that they can work to redeem themselves for the evil that they are bringing into saddened people’s lives, exploited by the circumstances of nature. That is what needs to happen, and we should make up our minds to do just that.

Just like many others around the country, just after midnight on Sunday evening, our house felt like it was on a Swiss ball, being tossed around. My 6-year-old daughter, who happened to be awake at the time, was quite excited by this. She spent most of the rest of the evening asking questions about that and then went off to bed singing, and I could not believe that of her. I thought that was rather resilient of her, and the words “Keep calm and carry on.” started to come to mind. The song that she sang as she went off to bed was a little ditty that she had learnt over the years, called “Kindness Begins with Me”. It says:

I want to be kind to everyone,

For that is right, you see.

So I say to myself,

“Remember this:

Kindness begins with me.”

Hearing the words of my baby as she went off to bed, at about 2 a.m., I had started to go on Twitter to try to get all sorts of information, because I could not believe that the earthquake was not centred under my house. When I found out that it was centred somewhere in the South Island, I was a bit in shock and thought about how devastating it must be there. But then I saw, even across the Twittersphere, people already, at 2 o’clock in the morning, were reaching out to one another, making sure that they were OK. So I rang in to Parliament to see what was going on, because I knew that the security staff would be up, and already they were checking the buildings. Already you yourself, Mr Speaker, had agreed to allow people to come here as a place of refuge, and I want to acknowledge that.

I want to acknowledge Jim Robb and his team, who went and checked all the buildings. I rang in again at 4 a.m., because I was still awake, just like many other New Zealanders, to find out what we should be letting our staff know about coming in—what was Wellington like; how was that going to happen—and they were up, and they were bringing people in and responding to the need. So I made my way over here on Monday morning, because I had some things that needed to get done and I had to drop things off, and I found that Taputeranga Marae had opened up its doors to accept tourists who had found themselves stranded and that neighbours had come here and picked people up, because they had seen on the news that people were here, and they had offered their homes to them. This is the New Zealand with a heart, which my baby, at 1 o’clock in the morning, sang of—kindness begins with me.

So today, in particular, in addition to all of those people who have stretched out a hand of kindness in such a turbulent time for our country, I want to acknowledge the people of Te Wai Pounamu, the people of Kaikōura, and the people of Ngāti Kuri. I am pleased to hear that Whānau Ora commissioning agencies have already gone out and put their hands of support out into the community. They have brought 20 other organisations together already in this quick response. A thousand people have registered at Takahanga Marae, the welfare centre in Kaikōura, and the Whare Hauora in Ōtautahi has picked up six whānau from around the South Island—a woman with four children, including a set of twins—and many other families, and evacuated them to a safer place in Christchurch.

I want to acknowledge the work of Kai Tahu, who, with their own helicopters and responders, had flown into the area to give aid and to relieve the burden and the hardship that people are experiencing. Marae in Christchurch have opened their doors—Rehua and Tuahiwi Marae. They do this because they know, they do this because they remember, and what was most heartening to see in all of this was those people from Christchurch who, across social media, were giving hints to other families who were experiencing this for the first time.

Our party is based on a principle of manaakitanga, but that is not foreign to New Zealanders. It is just what we do. And so, as a New Zealander, I am proud of our country and the response that has been put out in this time of need. Kia ora.

I would also like to quickly thank the Prime Minister and the House for giving leave for all party leaders to participate in debate on this statement—thank you.

From the point of view of the ACT Party, our thoughts are primarily with the two who were lost to their loved ones and to their friends and family on Sunday night, and then with all of those who face uncertainty, who may have had damage to their homes and livelihoods, and who fear the prospect of further aftershocks, isolation due to absence of or damage to infrastructure, and the lack of basic necessities at this time. But it is also worth paying tribute to the fact that, as unfortunate and frequent as they are, these natural disasters also bring out the best in the Kiwi character, not just from the emergency services and the military—which, I think everyone will agree, have been excellent and have gone above and beyond throughout this event—but from everyday Kiwis reaching out to each other, including those on the marae, whom we have just heard about from Marama Fox, and the community centres right across the affected areas in New Zealand.

Of course, in stark contrast to that fine Kiwi character are the very few who have actually taken advantage of the natural disaster and have committed crimes, taking advantage of the vulnerability of the New Zealanders who have been forced from their homes. I think, as a Parliament, we should be responsive. I actually agree with the Rt Hon Winston Peters on this, and I hope that the House will support legislation such as the Sentencing (Civil Defence Emergency) Amendment Bill, which would make it an aggravating factor in burglary to take advantage of a victim of a natural disaster. I look forward to all parties’ support on that.

Without further ado, our thoughts in this House should be with those who have lost their lives, with those who are suffering uncertainty, and with the great many New Zealanders who have shown the best of Kiwi character in dealing with this tragic emergency. Thank you.

I want to support the resolution moved by the Prime Minister in the wake of the earthquakes that struck a large part of New Zealand in the early hours of yesterday morning. I do not want to rehearse some of the stories that have been told. We all have, as one of the earlier speakers said, those moments we will remember and never forget. But I do want to observe that as I moved around my electorate yesterday, the one thing that struck me was the quiet resilience of people. Everyone had been through a tremendous ordeal. People were getting on with their lives and were looking out for each other. Although they were numbed and although they were shocked, it was something of a joy to behold the strength of their character and their determination.

But we know that that will not be the case in all circumstances, and I particularly extend my sympathy to the families of those who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. There will be those who are injured or are in some way incapacitated by this tragedy and those who have lost property and other assets and who will be wondering about their economic futures. They are the people who must be in our thoughts at the present time as we contemplate recovery and all that it means.

In the wake of the Christchurch earthquakes, the Fire Service’s urban search and rescue (USAR) unit did an awesome job—so much so that it received the United Nations’ commendation for that work. I want to tell the House today that that urban search and rescue unit has already been deployed. A team of 20 firefighters from Christchurch was deployed yesterday to Kaikōura, and also dogs and two water purification units and communications equipment have been deployed to Kaikōura to help the rescue events there. In addition, the central USAR unit has been deployed to the Wellington region, working alongside the Wellington Regional Council as it coordinates relief efforts in this part of the world.

But I must make this observation: neither of those types of activities is actually legally sanctioned by the current Fire Service legislation. The Fire Service technically exceeds its mandate in carrying out this emergency work—which is, I observe in passing, why we need to pass the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Bill as soon as possible—because these events are likely to become far more part of our norm.

In a time of emergency we rely on a number of key elements of our society coming together in the public interest, and I want to acknowledge particularly the work of the news media, especially our public media—Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand—for the way in which they covered the events of the last 24 hours, the information they provided, and the fact that they kept on going. Very few of us who heard it will ever forget Vicki McKay’s announcement of the earthquake during the midnight news bulletin. The calmness and the strength—as I heard one commentator say yesterday, that in itself described the essence of being a New Zealander.

There is one final point I want to make. Today in Wellington we face the unusual phenomenon where, because of flooding and torrential rain, State Highways 1 and 2 are closed, leaving Auckland isolated. But, more seriously—more seriously—that event demonstrates the wisdom in pursuing the Transmission Gully motorway option, which is now under construction and which is proceeding very well, because had it been in place, that situation might not have occurred and Auckland might have been saved.

Seriously though, can I just express again my thanks to all involved in recovery work, my appreciation for the real stoicism of New Zealanders, and my sympathy for those who have suffered emotional, physical, and personal loss as a consequence of that tragedy.