Ministerial Statements
Earthquake—Canterbury

The Māori Party stands with all parties of this House to convey our best wishes and hopes for the people of Ōtautahi—Canterbury. We know they have a very strong fighting spirit. They are going to need it this time, because the earthquake happened at a busy time, midday, and we know that it was quite severe in terms of damage to buildings and cars on the road, liquefaction, and all the things that have happened this time.

Our hope is that everyone will contact their families and their relatives down there to make sure they are OK, to manaaki each other, and to look after the children, who must be really fearful, having experienced earthquakes before. This is the biggest daytime one for them to experience. Tragedies bring people together, and I hope this sad tragedy makes New Zealand think very carefully about how lucky we are in this country to have good fortune, a high standard of living, and the relationships between people that we enjoy day by day, so that we can unite in this way with one thought, and that is for the people of Ōtautahi.

Nā reira koutou mā, tēnei mātou e mihi atu ki a koutou Ko te tūmanako kia manaaki koutou i a koutou. Kimihia ō koutou whānau, ō koutou hoa me te manaaki, tiaki hoki i a rātou i roto i tēnei wā pōuri. Nā reira, mā te Atua koutou e manaaki, e tiaki kia mutu ai tēnei āhuatanga. Ngā mihi ki a koutou, tēnā koutou.

[So our thoughts are with you. We hope that you look after each other. Seek out your families and friends; comfort and shelter them in this moment of darkness. May God protect and watch over you so this tragedy has an ending. Our sympathies and thoughts are with you.]

Thank you.

ENDS

© Scoop Media

World Refugee Day:
Are We Doing Our Bit?

On World Refugee Day, Thursday June 20th, Doing Our Bit will officially launch a campaign to double New Zealand’s UNHCR Refugee Resettlement Quota...

New Zealand’s low refugee intake is not a new issue. In February a NZ Herald editorial commented that our intake was ‘paltry’, remarking that ‘surely we could do more’. In April, Amnesty International described the quota as ‘tiny'.

“Despite being a small country in the middle of the South Pacific, New Zealand prides itself on being hospitable. We are friendly to overseas visitors and we see ourselves as punching above our weight in international affairs,” said Murdoch Stephens, coordinator of Doing Our Bit.

“However, in terms of accepting refugees New Zealand is clearly not doing our share.” More>>