Midday Business News for 25 November 2011
Audio, Radio New Zealand
Christchurch earthquake costs shake Tower's bottom line.
Christchurch earthquake costs shake Tower's bottom line.
This afternoon the Government will announce its initial package to deal with land badly damaged by earthquakes in Christchurch, including offering a pay out to households who want to take the cash.
Council rates in Christchurch city will continue to be calculated using the 2007 house valuations for up to two more years, allowing time for the earthquake's impact on property prices to be assessed.
Christchurch homeowners are still battling insurers eight years after the first major earthquake. Mike and Fran Dodge say their insurer AA has not honoured their insurance policy, and now court seems to be the only option left.
The Education Ministry has apologised after a critical report from the Chief Ombudsman said the ministry failed to fully inform Christchurch schools before revealing plans in 2012 to close and merge 38 of them following the Christchurch earthquake.
A Christchurch man who's made his name battling the Earthquake Commission says he has secured a forty-five-million-dollar joint venture with a Chinese company that will regenerate Christchurch's residential areas.
The former Christchurch East Labour Party MP, Lianne Dalziel, is now the Mayor of Christchurch and, as such, is set to work much more closely with her former political foe, Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee.
Businesses in the Christchurch suburb of New Brighton say something needs to be done urgently to pull the area out of an economic slump. The seaside town has struggled since the Canterbury Earthquakes, with thousands of people - and customers - leaving the area due to land damage under their homes. And they're pointing the fingers at city leaders like the Christchurch City Council and its rebuild agency, Development Christchurch. Logan Church spoke to New Brighton business owner Nigel Gilmore.
Suzie Ferguson gives advice for people in Christchurch.
Monique Oomen is at a closed Christchurch airport.
Christchurch and its surrounding towns are slowly starting to be rebuilt after the devastating earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. Our political editor Brent Edwards has been in Christchurch to find out whether the rebuild debate will dominate the election campaign in the city.
The head of the Christchurch cathedral thinks people visiting the church may have been killed there when the quake hit this afternoon. The Dean of Christchurch, Peter Beck, says they rushed to get as many people out of the Cathedral as they could.
Nat's been working on Earthquake relief in Christchurch with the development of the Christchurch Recovery Map and when not doing that, he's been looking at the iPad II, 3D Printers for schools, anti-lasers and other cutting edge tech.
Staying with the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake, the police in Christchurch are to start cold-calling on homes in the city where there is either a history of domestic violence, or the potential for it.
Some Christchurch business owners are criticising the government for winding down the earthquake support package. The Government has extended the package, which pays employees of quake effected business a wage subsidy for two more weeks.
Its now seven weeks since the February earthquake. Normality is returning to Christchurch, with most sewerage lines fixed and water no longer needing to be boiled before drinking. But that doesn't apply to everyone.
Some Christchurch residents say the Christchurch City Council has been too slow to resolve the threat of rock fall to their homes, and they now hope the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority will take over the job.
Army takes control of central Christchurch, Cabinet earmarks money for Canterbury quake, More on the damage from the Christchurch earthquake, Heavy rain causes flooding in lower North Island and Fox Glacier crash report could take two years.
The Christchurch suburb of New Brighton was hit hard by the Christchurch earthquakes, with roads that still haven't been fixed and many families on struggle street. One local is hoping a fridge offering free food, will help. 
Today marks seven years since the devastating Christchurch Earthquake. We turn out attention to the Garden City, first celebrating the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra’s 60th anniversary with violinist Natalia Lomeiko, then organist Martin Setchell on the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church organ rising from the rubble.
It's hoped a new art installation in Ōtautahi Christchurch can help people talk their worries away through a series of telephones by the riverside. Twelve telephones have popped up across sites commemorating the city's devastating 2011 earthquakes. The group behind the project is Flourish Kia Puawai. Its associate director Sharon Torstonson spoke to Corin Dann.
Listening to that was the Earthquake Recovery Authority chief executive Roger Sutton.
Some residents have been waiting for the verdict on the fate of their home and land since the first earthquake hit in September last year.
The first one struck just before 2 this afternoon and measured 5 point 8 on the Richter scale, and was eight kilometres deep.
Radio New Zealand has had to abandon the Christchurch building that was our base and the home of Sound Archives - Nga Taonga Korero. In this edition of The Vault; Deborah Nation draws on recordings made on the day an earthquake finally evicted her and the other people there.
This morning the Prime Minister was refusing to confirm or deny whether a group of Israelis in Christchurch at the time of the February earthquake were spies - saying it was not in the national interest for him to do so.
A faltering economy is likely to mean the Reserve Bank will keep the official cash rate on hold this morning. That could be some help to businesses in Christchurch, struggling first with the slow recovery and then hammered by the earthquake 12 days ago.
Kaikoura and Wellington businesses operating adjacent to quake damaged buildings may face disruption for years to come as owners drag their feet on repair or demolition work. A Christchurch property owner has been unable to completely re-open for business since the February 2011 earthquake.
The tours will allow people to see the earthquake damage closeup for the first time since the earthquake struck in February.
It's Canterbury's annual Cup and Show week. Organisers say the event has extra prominence this year, as the region's been robbed of many major events because of the damage to venues in the September and February earthquakes.