7. JACQUI DEAN (National—Waitaki) Link to this
to the Minister of Civil Defence
What is the update on civil defence and emergency management operations in Canterbury?
Hon JOHN CARTER (Minister of Civil Defence) Link to this
The 7.1 earthquake in Canterbury on Saturday morning was one of the most significant natural disaster events in New Zealand’s history. It is incredible that in the initial quake there was no loss of life. I have travelled to Canterbury three times since Saturday, and the uncertainty for people in the area is exacerbated by ongoing aftershocks, some of them quite severe, with the potential to further damage buildings. The House may be interested to know that there have been 284 aftershocks, six of them over 5.3 on the Richter scale. The Government is working with the local government authorities that are involved to ensure Canterbury is restored to business as usual as quickly as possible. Many Government agencies are involved, and 69 percent of the downtown businesses in Christchurch have now been cleared. Both central and local government are operating in accordance with plans under the Civil Defence Emergency Management Act. That Act was developed to deal with exactly this kind of situation and is working as it should. New Zealand is vulnerable to natural disasters, and I believe we have in place one of the best processes in the world to manage them. We are now on day 5 of this significant event. The situation changes, sometimes hourly. There are states of emergency in place, and that will continue while it is necessary to ensure the safety and security of the people of Canterbury. Part of the problem we are finding is that a house that may have been declared safe yesterday is found, as a consequence of an aftershock, not to be today. The recovery phase has begun, but due to extensive damage through the three regions affected by this earthquake and its aftershocks—that is, Selwyn, Waimakariri, and Christchurch—recovery will take time. Everyone on the ground in Canterbury is working as fast as they can to restore the essential services, and no one is being ignored or forgotten. This is a huge exercise.
I am very proud to say that the response in Canterbury has been fantastic. Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management personnel are working around the clock to respond to the many demands that the 7.1 earthquake and ongoing aftershocks are presenting. The offers of help have been incredible, and the civil defence and emergency management sector is coordinating both the offers of help and the requests for help. This is a huge job. The three mayors of the region—Ron Keating, Kelvin Coe, and Bob Parker—have shown true leadership. It is important for all stakeholders to know that the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management is the lead agency in this response and recovery. All statements and activities should be coordinated with the ministry. A Canterbury civil defence and emergency management group is coordinating external support with the assistance of the National Crisis Management Centre in Wellington. Today a number of building inspectors are being sourced from elsewhere to supplement the existing capacities in Christchurch, and additional sewerage repair teams are being mobilised from outside the Canterbury region. Importantly, the people of Canterbury are responding really positively, despite the stress of repeated aftershocks. Volunteers have been out doing all sorts of things to help the people affected by this disaster, and students have mobilised themselves. I must say that the people of Canterbury make us proud to be New Zealanders.
There are many, quite honestly. This recovery will take months, rather than weeks. But I think we need to focus on two things in the early stages. Firstly, use of our welfare areas has already been made by a number of people, but it is very likely that this demand will grow. There are people who have been taken in by friends and family around the region, but of course their stay, as the weeks go by, will tend to cause them difficulties and problems. It means that our welfare centres are likely to come under more and more demand and more and more pressure. Indeed, we may well have to establish more centres than we have. Secondly, we all need to understand that this disaster has caused huge pressure on everybody in Christchurch. The trauma that people are under and the personal effect it has had on people is just hard to believe unless one has been there, or has experienced it. The problem is that the aftershocks are likely to continue extensively, and maybe for longer than 2 months. Following the Haiti earthquake there was a magnitude 6 aftershock a week later; following the Mexico earthquake there was a magnitude 6 aftershock 2 months later. It is likely that the aftershocks will continue for some time. Each aftershock causes more stress and alarm. There are people who are not sleeping and children who are not sleeping. We need to be aware that we will have to deal with major issues about people’s lives as we go forward.