2. AARON GILMORE (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Finance
How is the Government supporting the earthquake recovery effort in Canterbury?
Hon BILL ENGLISH (Minister of Finance) Link to this
The Government, as we set out in the Budget, has set up a Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund. That fund amounts to $5.5 billion, and it has been pre-funded. By that I mean that the Government already has the cash, which it has borrowed in order to fund the rebuild of Christchurch. We believe that the fund demonstrates the determination of all of New Zealand to rebuild that city and gives the people of Christchurch comfort, even after the earthquake yesterday, that New Zealanders are with them.
No. Although there may be some hold-ups in the next week or two as the damage is reassessed, the fact is that what is required to rebuild Christchurch has not changed—that is, the demolition and rebuilding of the central business district and significant decisions about land use in the suburbs, as well as the repairing of thousands of houses. Much of that effort, and the planning that goes with it, can continue regardless of the earthquake yesterday.
That is not entirely clear yet. The picture seems to be that there has been more damage in the central business district, where extensive demolition was already occurring, and pretty severe liquefaction in the eastern suburbs, where there is already significant damage. As we speak, both the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and Ministers and the Prime Minister are surveying the damage, and pretty quickly we will have an assessment of whether there are significantly more costs.
The Earthquake Commission has publicly stated that it will treat it as a new event, and we would expect there will be further claims on top of the, I think, already in excess of 400,000 claims since September last year. The Earthquake Commission had reinsurance put in place from 1 June, so this earthquake is covered by its reinsurance arrangements.