I used the opportunity to talk about an event we had planned, but which we have now had to cancel -- it was a debate with the moot "South Islanders will be the most innovative when it comes to fast fibre networks".

We had decided to hold a debate in Christchurch because the city has always been a hot-bed of innovation. A draft report from the Canterbury Development Corporation says 16 of the top 100 local technology companies are based in Christchurch and collectively they contribute $1.18 billion to the economy. We also wanted to show support to the community following September's earthquake.

I spent several hours in the Christchurch CBD on February 2, and the damage caused by the September earthquake was obvious -- the closed shops in the retail centre, the scaffolding around crumbling building facades.

But the people I spoke to, while acknowledging the earthquake's affect on them, didn't appear to have let it slow them down any. They were getting on with business, hiring staff, coming up with new ideas, talking up their business case.

And then last week there was another earthquake, and this time it is much worse. There is a high death toll. Search and rescue teams continue to scour the rubble for survivors. Aftershocks are many and frequent.