Mr CRAIG THOMSON (6:19 PM) —Many speakers have started their contribution in relation to this motion of condolence by talking about the close relations that we have with New Zealand and those which go to family in New Zealand. The fact that they are not part of the one country has not in any way diminished the close ties between the two countries. They may have moved away in 1901 from becoming part of this great country but it is as though they are another state of the same country. People move between the two countries as though they are one country as well.

My connection is that I was born in Wellington, New Zealand. I am the child of a mother who was born in Wellington, New Zealand. I was adopted, so my birthmother comes from New Zealand as well. I have family throughout New Zealand. My particular connection in relation to this earthquake is not only cousins who live in Christchurch who thankfully, while affected, are safe but my brother who works for the Australian Embassy. His role was to be down there on behalf of the Australian government liaising with Australians and making sure that the Australian media—which tends to be a little bit more robust, can I say, than the New Zealand media—was kept under some control, as much as that can be done. All of us who have come here and spoken about the connections have this sort of intimate connection with New Zealand. Whether it is through marriage, friends or family, it is as though we are one group coexisting together.

At 12.51 on 22 February 2011 there was a 6.3 magnitude earthquake that occurred just 10 kilometres south-east of Christchurch. This followed the 7.1 magnitude earthquake that occurred in the region on 4 September 2010. I think in Australia we are getting used to analysing earthquakes a bit more, unfortunately, than we did in the past and one of the things we have learnt is that it is not just the magnitude, it is how deep or, in this case, shallow the earthquake happens to be. The earthquake in Christchurch was a very, very shallow earthquake which was why there was so much damage done.

Since the earthquake there have been over 200 aftershocks and they are continuing to this day. There is still a lot of activity there which is causing disruption, fear and some degree of uneasiness for those living there. Coming from Wellington I have been told by my mother that for many years and still to this day in Wellington they have to do drills in relation to what to do in an earthquake. So it is a country that is used to these sorts of activities, but no country is used to the loss of life and devastation that occurred in Christchurch. That is why we are here today to send our condolences to the people of Christchurch and the people of New Zealand. Over 180 people have died. There are still close to 100 people unaccounted for. Some of those will be amongst the fatalities—there is the issue of identifying the bodies—but it is still an ongoing issue.

We have spoken about the most important part which is the loss of life and injury to people, but the physical aspect has been quite incredible as well. Over one-third of the buildings in the Christchurch central business district are to be demolished. One-third of the city is to come down. We have heard from the National Insurance Company—New Zealanders pay a very small fee of around $64 a year to be covered by insurance because of this sort of activity—that they have received over 60,000 claims. They are expecting it to rise to close to 300,000 claims, which means that virtually every house, every suburb, has been affected by this earthquake.

The economic impact, of course, has been astronomical. While this impact is a distant third, it is still an important issue because New Zealanders and those from Christchurch do need to get back onto their feet. It has been estimated that the combined cost of the earthquake in New Zealand is going to be around $20 billion. That is a lot of money to Australia, but it is a lot more money to a smaller country like New Zealand. It is going to take them some time. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker has estimated that the cost of rebuilding the city will be even more than that. He is estimating around $30 billion to rebuild the city. When those sorts of figures are spoken about in terms of the insurance, you can see that it is very widespread and it is going to take a long time to make sure that Christchurch is rebuilt properly. The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has taken immediate action and reduced interest rates by 50 basis points. That is a welcome step as the New Zealand economy seeks to cope with what has happened.

One of the important issues is education—schools and how they have been affected—and getting back to normal life in Christchurch. It is pleasing that, by the start of this week, over 80 schools had reopened since the earthquake. That represents about 85 per cent of all schools. Some schools have still not opened, and many have relocated, but they are getting back to normality and getting kids back in education.

The University of Canterbury has announced a draft timetable to restart its 2011 academic year commencing last week. We have the offer from the University of Adelaide, as part of the Australian assistance, to take on board 500, mostly first-year, students from Christchurch whose academic year has been disrupted. Some of the other New Zealand universities have also made similar sorts of offers.

Australian assistance has gone beyond just universities. The Australian government has donated $5 million to the New Zealand Red Cross appeal. The overall Australian assistance effort has involved 750 personnel. That has included a total of 500 police officers from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Federal Police. It also included some experts who, unfortunately for them, were there for the identification of bodies. That role has started to wind down in New Zealand but, unfortunately, the events in Japan have meant that some of those personnel are going from one site to the next. We also had around 220 Australian search and rescue personnel there. The Australian government also sent over a 24-person medical team, which came from Queensland. Twelve ambulance peer support personnel were sent over, and some temporary accommodation experts from Victoria were sent to provide additional advice and help in relation to what happened.

Today we are talking about our close relationship with New Zealand. That is something that the New Zealand people have recognised, and they are very grateful for the Australian response. The Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Rt Hon. John Key, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Bill English, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Murray McCully, have all singled out Australia for the swiftness and generosity of our response and the heartfelt condolences that came immediately from Australia. They are very grateful for the role that Australia played. They also acknowledged the very special relationship that Australians and New Zealanders have and share.

It is just under a week ago that the Prime Minister attended a memorial service in Christchurch. There were over 100,000 people there. The Prime Minister was able to convey the condolences of all Australians to the people of Canterbury and to New Zealand generally. Today I am joining that message of condolence, and I offer the best wishes of my constituents from the New South Wales Central Coast to the people of Christchurch, Canterbury and New Zealand as a whole as they go about the difficult task of rebuilding their lives, their city and their country after the terrible devastation of this earthquake.