Christchurch Earthquake of 22 February 2011 — 10th Anniversary

I seek leave to move a motion on the 10th anniversary of the Christchurch earthquake.

💬 SPEAKER: Leave is sought for that course of action. Is there any objection? There is none.

I move, That this House mark the 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake of 22 February 2011 that saw the tragic loss of 185 lives and thousands more injured, and acknowledge the people of Christchurch and the wider region who’ll face the long-term impact of the earthquake.

Along with many others in this House, I spent yesterday in Christchurch. It was humbling to be amongst people who have been through so much. The earthquake and aftershocks affected people in complex and diverse ways, and those impacts are still felt acutely 10 years on. To hear the names of the 185 people who lost their lives read aloud was a stark reminder that 22 February remains one of New Zealand’s deadliest disasters. For some of those who lost loved ones, the last decade represents a period of grief, but also of healing. But for others, those 10 years simply signify 10 birthdays, 10 Christmases, 10 years of special moments without the one they loved. The message yesterday to everyone affected was clear: New Zealand will stand with you for as long as you need us to.

The earthquake shook Christchurch and the region and changed that city for ever, but it also impacted New Zealand. I remember so clearly how the country threw its support behind Canterbury in the months and years following the quake: raising funds, holding tributes, downing tools for moments of silence. Everyone felt so keenly the enormity of what had happened. The enormity has not lessened with the passage of time.

I’d like to acknowledge in this House, as I did yesterday, all those who were part of relief efforts on or after 22 February: emergency service staff, the Christchurch mayor—who remains in our thoughts—and city councillors, Ministers, international diplomats, and family and friends of all involved. I know we would all wish to acknowledge past and present members of the Quake Families Trust, and, as I did yesterday, I also want to acknowledge the children who lived through the earthquake. This was a cohort left particularly vulnerable, who would always grow up in the shadow of that day. We have all worked hard to support them—we had a duty to. In particular, over the last three years, alongside professionals in Canterbury, we created a programme to support the school children in the region who were affected by the earthquakes. We did the same in Kaikōura. That programme so far has helped 4,196 tamariki and will now roll out across New Zealand. Out of such a traumatic time for our kids has grown something positive for a whole generation. They have left a legacy. But I hope that no matter where they are or what age they are now, they continue to find and have the support they need.

Finally, I’d like to acknowledge all New Zealand politicians—local council chambers, or here in this House—who have worked so hard to support Christchurch over the past 10 years. It has been uncharted territory, and everyone—on both sides of this House—did their very best for the city that they loved.

It’s been a difficult decade for Christchurch. It’s taken hits on so many fronts, but as we look forward to the coming decade, I see hope and I see optimism. We see a city emerging, one founded on innovation, ideas, and creativity. There’s a focus on things that matter: people and communities. There are some amazing people in Christchurch doing amazing things. So please, keep going. We are with you.

The question is that the motion be agreed to.

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I found the 10th anniversary of the massive Canterbury and, particularly, Christchurch earthquakes very emotional, so I’m just going to speak from the heart. Yesterday, I was honoured to be able to attend the 10th anniversary of the 2011 quakes on 22 February. Along with me were Gerry Brownlee, who seemed to spend much of his Cabinet time dealing with and trying to resurrect Christchurch from not only the ashes but, actually, the liquefaction—an enormous contribution; Nicola Grigg and Matt Doocey were there; former Ministers Nicky Wagner and Kate Wilkinson were there. All were people who I well remember around the Cabinet table doing their very best for Christchurch.

I first visited the quake sites on 24 February 2011, two days after the quakes. For me, it was something that I returned to almost every week for months after that. It was horrific. I got to go home that night but the people who were living it did not—or were not to escape it, anyway.

I well remember the young police officer who was assigned, because I was Minister of Police then, to take me around and to get me past cordons and through things. I asked him how he was and what happened with his house, and his house had been destroyed and he and his wife had had to go and shift in with family. Yet there he was at work, showing this Minister around. He took me to places like the CTV building and the PGC building, and there I met people who were removing bodies and who just occasionally were able to bring out someone who was still alive. It was horrendous, and, as I say, I got to go home that night and they didn’t.

Even now, when we go back to Christchurch, there are drivers and other people who have been there for many years, and I often say, “And how are you today?”, and sometimes it’s not good. Sometimes people are still dealing with not only the physical scars but the mental scars, because, as we know—and we’ll just remind everybody—it wasn’t just a day of earthquakes; it has been years of earthquakes, and it only now seems to have settled down somewhat. Thousands of earthquakes, and people had to keep living in it.

When I think about my colleagues who themselves had their houses destroyed and their families uprooted and they still had to go to work and do their best for others, I’m really proud to have been around that Cabinet table with them.

I also think of the next visit, which was to the morgue which had been set up at Burnham Military Camp. It was something that will live with me for ever. I went there with the Governor-General, Anand Satyanand, and my chief of staff, and we saw all these people working to reunite the deceased with their families, to work out who people were, to absolutely 100 percent identify people where—when people say, “Oh, they could’ve shown us the bodies”, they couldn’t have shown the bodies; it was horrendous. Everyone was treated with respect. We saw just about every denomination it is possible to have from a religious point of view represented, and we saw everyone treated with respect. The people who came to help there were not only New Zealanders but people from all around the world, and they came to help us in our hour of need and they came quickly and they came with the best intentions and the best skills. I couldn’t be more proud to have been a Kiwi receiving that.

The Australian Government—or their states, I should say—sent 400 police officers to help us. They sent 400 police officers to help New Zealand Police, and those police were sworn in as temporary constables by the commissioner at the airport. I’ll always remember them well for that.

It is really hard to think of all those people who died, but let us not forget that there are many people who survived. Yesterday, I was able to meet with the Quake Families Trust and to meet some of those people who had horrific injuries—their legs lost, back broken, just awful things, and they still live with this every day. What they want us to do is to remember them, as well, and that we can do things for them. So I hope that we will always try to remember that. They are still there, they have still survived, and they have been injured.

And, of course, the mental health issues that people suffered, whether it’s the little children who grew up with this massive uncertainty, or whether it’s people who everything that they thought they had had been destroyed—what they went through.

So I was very humbled and grateful to be able to attend yesterday, to be able to pay my respects to people, and to remember all of those—all those emergency services; everybody who did their very best. Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Tēnā tātou e hui mai nei mō tēnei kaupapa whakahirahira. Ngā mihi aroha ki te whānau, whānui, e hoa mā, o ngā aituā maha, i ngā wā mua. Tēnā koutou katoa.

[Greetings to us all whom have gathered for this important occasion. My profuse thanks to the wider family, my friends, the many who have passed on in the past. Greetings.]

There were 15 flags flying yesterday at Oi Manawa, the national memorial for the Canterbury earthquakes on the banks of the Ōtākaro/Avon River, representing the 15 home countries of 185 individuals who lost their lives. On behalf of the Green Party, I acknowledge the family, friends, and colleagues of all of those who passed, and especially the families of students who were studying English in Christchurch, who are so far away—in Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. Know that we hold your loved ones close, and we remember them.

Thanks to the news media, more stories of courage and heroism have been recounted in recent days—ordinary people doing extraordinary things to save lives, help, and comfort others. I too acknowledge the endurance of those who were seriously injured and somehow survived. Like so many families living with grief, your courage in overcoming physical injury and mental anguish is immense and an inspiration.

In smashing buildings to the ground, Rūaumoko also levelled people. Post-quake Greater Christchurch, with its cracked and rumpty roads, Portaloos on street corners, was munted—no place for high-heels or fancy airs. There was no playbook for how to respond to a disaster on this scale. What emerged was a strong sense of community, a down-to-earth openness about the shared experience of coming to terms with something unimagined, of life being very different, and grappling with a slew of practical changes every day—from how to get across town to how to cope with a broken sewerage system.

New Zealanders were hugely generous in their response to the earthquakes. Rangiora folks sent fragrant baking across the city. We had the energy of the student army and the Farmy Army, who mobilised hundreds of volunteers to help shift silt with shovels and wheelbarrows, while billions of dollars flowed from Treasury. I acknowledge the support that we received in Ōtautahi, Christchurch from all over Aotearoa and the world. People reached out to us and each other, and that was powerful.

Canterbury is known for its big skies. There is space for new ideas and new ways of being. New buildings and public spaces are creating a diverse and interesting city with a much more visible Ngāi Tahu presence, like the beautiful steel-feathered korowai on the justice precinct. There are many more cycleways and pedestrian spaces, and traffic is now slower in the city. I acknowledge groups like Gap Filler, the mural artists, and all of those for their creativity—ideas like the Dance-O-Mat—for showing us how to do things differently and rebuild.

Much has happened over the last 10 years, and the rebuilding of homes, lives, and communities continues. There is still much to do, especially to those who struggle with inadequate housing in the city’s eastern suburbs, with post-quake stress and trauma, and those who have been further disadvantaged by COVID. Kia kaha. Nō reira, kore rawa mātou e wareware kua hinga rātou, haere haere haere ki te pō.

[Be strong. Finally, we will never forget those who have passed. Rest in peace.]

Thank you, Mr Speaker. I rise on behalf of the ACT Party in support of the Prime Minister’s motion. The 22 February 2011 is a Cantabrian’s darkest day, a day for ever linked with great suffering, tragedy, and trauma, but we should look back on the heroism displayed on that day 10 years ago with pride. Much of that city was lost: its landmarks, the cathedral, Lancaster Park, and many more, all in rubble. But on that day, and in the hard weeks, months, years following, the people of Christchurch came together, united, to go on with it. The loss of lives will never be healed, and are a loss we will never forget; we will remember them. As a Cantabrian, my husband’s vehicle was crushed by a concrete beam 30 seconds after he got out of it. Myself, I still suffer when buildings shake and there are loud bangs, because you just do not know if it’s another big earthquake.

The years following the quake were hard. Many are still battering insurance companies and the Earthquake Commission, and many are still hurting from their loss. However, thanks to the determination and the relentless spirit of the Cantabrians, which are more frequently displayed on a rugby field on a Saturday night, the city is starting to revive. From the merest loss the city has recovered, thanks to the work done by government led by Sir John Key, Sir Bob Parker, the Hon Gerry Brownlee, and Sir Bill English. However, the reason Christchurch stands as New Zealand’s most modern, most vibrant, and most livable city is thanks not to the politicians but to the people and, particularly, the entrepreneurs. As Government, councils, and bureaucrats pushed paper, a small number of Cantabrians got to work. They got out there—had a go. They battled the councils, the insurance companies, and regulations that got in the way, and slowly created something worthwhile. A special thanks to the likes of Antony Gough, Richard Peebles, and Tim Glasson, who did a lot of heavy lifting, but for, more frequently, the small guys—it’s not easy to run a business, but thanks to their tireless work we have a city that we can be proud of once again.

I walk down Oxford Terrace on a Sunday afternoon and the evidence is there to be seen: Rollickin Gelato, the Bacon Brothers, Bohemian Bakery—dozens of businesses in the Riverside Market and hundreds of other operators in the city getting out there, having a go. It is to you we owe the city we have today, and what a city it is. Thank you.

E ko Rūaumoko e ngunguru nei, i au au aue hā

E ko Rūaumoko e ngunguru nei, i au au aue hā

E ko te rākau a Tūngāwerewere, iahahā

He rākau tapu nā Tūtaua ki a Uenuku i pātukia ki Ōtautahi pakaru te ūpoko. Ki Ōtautahi patua ki waenganui o te tau o Aoraki te toka whakairo e tū ake nei. He atua, he tangata, he atua he tangata, ho!

Kāti ake ka tautoko ake i ngā mihi ki ngā tangi ki a rātou i mate i roto i tēnei o ngā parekura nui i utaina ki runga i ngā tāngata o Ōtautahi puta noa i te ao. Hoatu rā koutou i runga i te ara kōrero kua parangia e te tini e te mano. Koutou kua whoatu rā i runga i te ara kua whakawhārikihia e ō tātou mātua tīpuna, ā, i te hunga o te ope tārewa i mua noa atu i a koutou. Nō reira e ngā māte haere, haere whakangaro atu rā. Ka hoki mai rā ki a tātou ngā mahuetanga iho, ā, ki te hunga e ora tonu ana i roto i ngā rā, i roto i te tekau tau kua hipa ake. E kiri haehae tonu ana te kiri, e kiri haehae tonu te manawa, kei te kiri haehae tonu te whenua.

[Hark to the rumble of the Earthquake God

Hark to the rumble of the Earthquake God

It is the rod of Tūngāwerewere

The sacred stick given by Tūtaua to Uenuku, it struck Christchurch and smashed its head. Cleaving amidst the ridge of Aoraki, where the carved rock emerges. ’Tis the awe of the gods, ’tis the fear of man!

Allow me to support the acknowledgments and laments to those who passed away during this great calamity that weighed upon the people of Christchurch and indeed the world. Go forth upon the storied pathway forged by the myriads. You who have passed along that pathway spread out for us by our ancestors and by the spirit troupe before you. Therefore, to the deceased, travel, travel, out of sight. Returning our thoughts back to us who remain, those still living in the days, and in the decade which has passed. The skin is tearing, the heart is yearning, the land is scarred.]

Te Paati Māori rises to support this motion to mark the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes, and to acknowledge the people of Ōtautahi, along with the hundreds of volunteers, the emergency services, and the selfless public. We acknowledge the mana whenua, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūāhuriri, Ngāti Irakehu, Ngāti Kuri, Ngāi Te Rua Hikihiki for leading the way in supporting the entire community in the aftermath of the earthquake, including Rehua Marae. This is yet another example of how mana whenua in the aftermath of natural disasters and emergencies set up and provide much-needed support for all its community and to fill gaps that Government and official responses have not yet provided for. It demonstrates what tangata whenua leadership can do for us all.

I acknowledge the strength and the resilience of the communities of Ōtautahi for continuing to deal with the long-lasting impacts, such as slow rebuild, ongoing issues with insurance, and the mental stress and trauma, as alluded to by speakers before me.

Nō reira e te iwi, hei whakakapinga mōku:

E ko komako, ko komako!

Ko te hautapu e rite ki te kai nā Mata Ariki.

Tapa reireia, koia tapa!

Tapa konunua, koia nā!

Tukua! Hī! Aue! Hī!

[Finally, to conclude my part:

’Tis the bellbird, ’tis the bellbird!

The sacred food akin to the sustenance of Mata Ariki.

The rituals have been chanted, yes!

The final rituals been chanted, yes!

Let it be settled!]

Kia ora tātou.

I rise to support the motion moved in the House today by the Prime Minister. This 10th anniversary is a time for remembrance and a time for tribute. Those who lost their lives or sustained serious injury will have in their families a great deal of grief for a long period of time, or they will be living with those injuries. I knew nine people who perished in the earthquakes on that and subsequent days, and I have to say that no matter what anniversary it is, when those names are read out, the emotion of that significance is no less pertinent.

So a tribute to the first responders, the many who turned up in uniform from the fire service, from the police, from the military, and the many who were civilian members of the urban search and rescue teams, that came not only from New Zealand but all other parts of the world. And then, of course, the hospital staff, from the doctors through to those who dealt with the laundry at the end. Not an easy task.

It was a time where the shock and grief of the situation was only matched by the anxious desire to get some clarity and speed about how it would all come to an end. There were hundreds of people who stepped up—thousands of people who stepped up—people who stepped up at their home, people who stepped up in their workplaces, in their community groups and schools and local and central government and the bureaucracies that go with them, and the many other organisations that our friend Eugenie Sage also mentioned who have been vital to community spirit in the years since.

There was a huge will to do what needed to be done to fix things, and there was an enormous amount to fix: over 700,000 total Earthquake Commission (EQC) claims across all categories; 167,000 severely damaged residential properties; 1,800 CBD buildings completely destroyed, needing demolition; and out in the suburban industrial areas even more. There were many, many schools that could not continue to have occupation. The university was badly damaged, along with Ara and other tertiary institutions. The experience from the 4 September earthquake through to that 22 February day, along with a great deal of reading that I did about disaster response, made me very clear in my thought that there needed to be a very sound structure that allowed decisions to be made as quickly as possible.

The one thing that was lacking in everything that I looked at was clear decision-making. To get that understood by more people was a bit of a challenge. Naturally, there was a desire to cling to local leadership, if you like. So we took the opportunity of having New Zealand Defence Force helicopters in Hagley Park to get many who either are or have been in this House up in the sky to see the extent of the damage, along with many State bureaucrats, local body politicians, local community leaders, so that they could see that the damage was from the outer parts of Banks Peninsula north up into the Kaikōura district, west as far as the Alps, and south as far as Timaru. That brought a degree of reality about just exactly what was being dealt with. It also, I think, made people clear about just how big the job was and the sort of thing that we needed to do to get things moving.

So legislation was put together and it was passed through this House unanimously, and that legislation was considered to be an all-powerful document. I can remember being compared myself to Henry VIII with his extraordinary powers. I’ve got to say, until I saw the photograph or mock-up of me in his gear, I never believed in reincarnation. The truth is that was not the case. All decisions were Cabinet decisions, and we had a cross-party forum, we had a community forum, and we had a group that were looking at the legalities of the various Orders in Council that were passed under that Act. All that meant was that there was a faster track to being able to do things, and therein, I think, lies the opportunity that perhaps exists for other disasters that might befall this country.

There was a lot for us to consider, and I’m not sure which of the very many big decisions that had to be made would be listed as most important ahead of others. But there are two that I want to speak about because they stand out for me. One was the decision that 8,500 families would be ill-advised to continue living in their homes and probably couldn’t rebuild them because the ground conditions were not suitable for sustaining that type of occupation. That was a very hard thing to do, even though there were people in those areas who were calling for “Just tell us what’s going to happen. Tell us where we’re going to go.” The harsh reality of hearing that cannot have been easy. And while there were some who would say they did all right out of it, some who say they won out of it, there were many who did not.

Getting those decisions based on the science was important, and I want to particularly thank GNS for the work that they did. They are an internationally recognised body that’s perhaps not well enough appreciated here at home. They worked with Tonkin + Taylor, the engineers, they worked at pace, and they got a very good picture of what the city looked like below its surface. But that was a hard decision to make, not only for those who were advising Cabinet; for Cabinet itself.

It was one of those things that you just have to do, and it was important too that people receiving that news had some degree of choice about what happened from there. They knew they had to go, but they could stay or they could sell their section to the Government—much of that would be covered by EQC—or they could decide to completely sell their property to the Government, house and land as well. Not particularly palatable options, but at least some degree of choice. So from a personal point of view, understanding what it’s like to own your own home, to feel that connection, to live through that devastation, to know that your workplace has been a little bit stressed, I think, and then come home to that kind of reality, and what you’ve got to do through all that—I think that took an enormous amount of effort for those 8,500 families and the many other families who would have supported them through that.

The second decision was the decision to remove from the Environment Court a thing called the urban development strategy, which had been developed by the three councils, “Waimak”, Selwyn, and Christchurch, over a long period of years, to a point where it had been in the Environment Court for about two years, getting to a position where the future development of the greater Christchurch area could be well understood. It was clear the process from that point, from 22 February on, was going to be long and tortuous. So we used the legislation to remove it and to effectively consent land that could be further consented for over 40,000 residential sections. Yes, there were some court cases about whether that was the right thing to do, but in the end all of those ended with those cases being defeated and the decision being upheld. That is also, I think, important because it shows that when you do have a tight situation, you do have to do things that are pretty big and pretty bold.

If I was to mention one other thing, it would be the wage subsidy, which I think totally defeated the idea that Christchurch would depopulate and that we would have economic carnage in the city—a prediction that there’d be 40 percent of the remaining city living on benefits with broken properties and the downscaling that comes from that. I think the recognition that the dignity that comes from work should always be supported by Government was very important, and we’re seeing that at the present time.

This is not a day to single out individuals who did great work. There were so many of them at some point. I would like to personally offer my gratitude to them for all that they did. But it is important to note that when the balloon goes up, you have an organisation like Civil Defence that does step up. Yes, it has its faults. It will make decisions that aren’t the best; it happens. But by and large, we’re lucky to have it and we’re lucky to have the legislation that goes around it. And a small example of that: the electricity was out for the eastern part of Christchurch for a number of days, and the then chief executive of Orion, Roger Sutton, came up with a plan to get it back on.

He turned up at the art gallery, which was the centre for activities for the civil defence emergency response. He had his plans rolled up under his arm and he came up and he said, “Who do I talk to about getting a consent to put this overland power line in, across about 8 kilometres, to connect it to another substation and get the power on?” I said, “Well, I’m not sure, Roger.” And then I thought, “Well, I’ll get hold of John Hamilton”—the great John Hamilton, retired Air Marshal, I think he was, a great guy running Civil Defence at the time. I said, “John, Roger wants to put the power on over in the east. He needs the consent. How do we do that?” He said, “Well, I don’t really know”. And I said, “Well, I tell you what. Why don’t you and Roger both sign that plan and I’ll witness it and we’ll take that as a consent.” The great thing about the accusations that were around, that I had “Henry VIII” powers, was that no one really questioned that. And sure enough, the lights went on. Sometimes you’ve got to do things as quickly as you can.

It is, as someone has already said, the people of Christchurch who have defeated the worst aspects of what was a very big disaster for us. It’s the people of Christchurch, and some of them have been named by others, who made those commitments to the city and have seen our population far from depopulate, but grow. So today it remains a dynamic great place to live, with a growing future.

For many Cantabrians, 22 February is always a day filled with very mixed emotions. That fateful day simultaneously seems a lifetime ago but also like it was yesterday. In many ways, it’s hard to remember—less imagine—life before the quakes. I, like the speakers that have spoken before me, would like to acknowledge those who lost their lives on that day, the families of those that lost their lives, and those that are still living with the physical scars and injuries of those events.

Ten years ago, I wasn’t an MP—that happened later in the year of 2011. But in the days, weeks, and months that followed, I was privileged to work alongside my predecessor, the late Hon Jim Anderton, as he worked to ensure that the people of Wigram were OK. And I’d like to acknowledge not only Jim but all the Canterbury members of Parliament at that time, who worked with their local communities. Only one of those members of Parliament who were there on that day remains in this House today. That is, of course, the Hon Gerry Brownlee. So, along with Jim and Gerry, I would like to acknowledge Ruth Dyson, Lianne Dalziel, Kate Wilkinson, Amy Adams, Clayton Cosgrove, Brendon Burns, David Carter, Nicky Wagner, Kennedy Graham, and Rahui Katene, who were all members representing that region at the time in 2011. Thank you for the work that you did for our city.

To my current Cantabrian colleagues, we’ve still got work to do—the job is not finished. To those that have gone before and those that are here now, I think it’s fair to say that we’ve not always agreed with each other on the how, and sometimes even the what, but I know that we have always shared a desire to see our city recover and to see our city flourish. We have learnt so many lessons along the way of this last decade. We’ve dealt with our fair share of frustrations, and we’ve also shared and made bonds that, in some cases, are impossible to explain, and, importantly, made lasting friendships along the way. It’s been tough, but countless and probably never-documented actions have got us through these last 10 years. These were tough times and, no, we were not always resilient.

We also remember how much we have been changed by these events, for all the lives that were literally turned upside down, but the reality is that you are hard-pressed to find anyone in Canterbury whose life has not changed in some way by what we collectively lived through. The impacts of feeling the ground continuously shake under your feet, living in a damaged house, and watching the city you love being torn down should never, ever be underestimated. We remembered all the places that we have lost; those were the places where we had made our memories. We remember the children and the young people, as the Prime Minister spoke about, whose—in many ways—entire lives have been lived in the shadow not only of the quakes but of the aftermath and emotional aftermath of those quakes. It’s been hard on them, but we saw remarkable actions and leadership in so many in our communities, as well as small actions that aren’t going to be the stuff of the history books, and I would like to acknowledge those—neighbour helping neighbour, community helping community.

I also want to acknowledge those that for the past decade have had a struggle: they’ve struggled with assessments, they’ve struggled with repairs, insurance claims, and often re-repairs. I acknowledge how hard this has been, and what a burden this has been for everybody to bear. But despite all this, this is a time for optimism for me, as it is for so many in our city. Today, as I look around my city, I’m filled with a sense of pride at what is emerging. A city that is determined, a city that is founded on legacies of innovation and discovery, and I am excited for its future.

Motion agreed to.