Anderton: Speech in House on quake

My thoughts and those of this House are surely with the tens of thousands of people from my city who are only now realising the full impact of this disaster. The one ray of light is the miracle that not one citizen was killed.

I’ve been moving round the suburbs of Christchurch - and I can see that the damage is even worse than many people first thought.

But first a tribute to the spirit of the people of the city. The elderly men (even older than me) sweeping up glass on the footpath in Selwyn St Village – over the road from my electorate office, at 7a.m. on the Saturday morning of the Quake!

A neighbour carrying an elderly sick woman from her home to his, so he can look after her.

150 students cleaning up the overwhelming mess in the neighbourhood streets of Hoon Hay and Halswell. Students often get a bad rap but their sense of community and responsibility deserves high praise.

I want to pay tribute to the many hundreds of people like this who have helped in the aftermath of the earthquake. I want to especially thank the Mayor, the Civil Defence team and their workers, the police, firefighters, Red Cross and thousands of volunteers for their dedicated work.

All these people are working long days to get food and water to those who need it, to clear the rubble, and make buildings safe.

And then they go home to their own houses which have been damaged and their own families who are suffering.

I want to thank the people from across the country that have offered help and been a source of strength and inspiration to the families and businesses affected by the earthquake in Canterbury.

Today, every New Zealander is a citizen of Christchurch.

It makes me proud to be a Cantabrian – (even if by adoption) - and proud to be a New Zealander to see these offers of help in times of desperate need.

I also want to say, that the clear and concise messages from Mayor Bob Parker have helped all the people of Christchurch in the immediate aftermath. We’ve been in no doubt that we need to boil our water for 3 minutes before drinking! He deserves credit for his clarity in a time of crisis.

Prime Minister John Key’s determination to be on-site and available has been appreciated by everyone.

I would like to see however, a cross-party commission or body so that we can utilise all the skills of our Christchurch MPs, and Councillors no matter what their political persuasion. We all have knowledge and experience and skills to offer.

Now is the time to work together for the sake of our city.

I would like to offer John Key’s ministers on the ground, and Mayor Bob Parker our hand of help. Let’s start to re-build this city together.

First we have to stabilise the situation and provide relief to those in urgent need. We need to provide medium and long-term accommodation to those who can’t return to their homes.
There is the obvious damage in the inner-city.

Then there is the less obvious but no less serious damage to suburban housing and infrastructure.

There might not be the dramatic pictures of our inner-city buildings turned to rubble, and the TV cameras might not be there, but I can tell you that many of our suburban homes will never be lived in again.

Thousands more are at risk of being demolished. Imagine the stress and trauma that is going to cause as people realise this?

Like most people in Christchurch, I live in the suburbs. I want to see help to people living here.

The elderly couple who have lived in their solid 1960s home for decades, and now that house in the suburbs will have to be demolished? What are they going to do? Are they going to re-build?

The whole country - and the government - is going to have to get behind every family and business in Christchurch.

The government needs to make a commitment to move quickly.

If people are fully insured, they may get sufficient from their insurance company – or they may not. But what about those that are not fully insured. There could be up to 100,000 homes affected. It’s going to take months or even years to fully recover. The cost of recovery is likely to be well over $2 billion.

So far the government has given $5 million to the Mayoral Fund. That is, of course, never going to be enough.

We are going to need the whole country and the government to get behind Christchurch.

Because it’s not just homes that have been destroyed. It’s also jobs.There are people who may never go back to their work place. There are businesses that are fast going under as we speak.

First we have to provide immediate relief to people who have lost their incomes and have bills to pay, but no wages coming in. People need some certainty about this. They need to know that they will be helped now.

Then we have to talk about a long term plan to re-build our city and create jobs and re-build businesses. That needs to involve everyone.

Decisions need to be made about public areas.

No decision should be made behind closed doors.

I call on the Mayor and the government to be inclusive. There are MPs and Councillors in Christchurch who could be helping out right now but are not in the loop.

They too have skills and knowledge and experience to give.

I hope both local Councillors and Members of Parliament can meet together to work in the interests of the city.

Christchurch Opposition MPs have made a commitment to work in a bipartisan way to first help those who have been affected by this tragedy, then to help plan how we re-build the city.

The people of Christchurch must be involved in the days ahead as we start the long haul of re-building our lives. We all need to come together today to show leadership in this time of the largest natural disaster to hit our city in living memory.

ends

© Scoop Media