Midday News for 3 January 2012

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch Mayor says the city council will meet with GNS scientists to get some answers about the current sequence of earthquakes, which have sparked anxiety among residents.

Christchurch council admits failure

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has admitted it failed to provide a second line of defence in checks on a building that killed a woman during last February's earthquake.

Christchurch car sales up as insurers pays out

Audio, Radio New Zealand

While many businesses in Christchurch are still struggling to get back on their feet after over a year of earthquakes, car sales, including many luxury models, are booming.

Rubble scanner to sniff out quake survivors

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Scientists in Europe have developed a technology which could be used to find survivors buried in rubble from collapsed buildings in events like the Christchurch and Japanese earthquakes.

Quake-affected homeowners unsure about future

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch owners worst affected by October's quake remain uncertain about their future, despite reassurance by the Earthquake Commission that many of the properties are safe to rebuild on.

Canterbury's chief medical health officer warns of asbestos

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The chief medical officer of health for the region, Dr Alistair Humphrey, says people carrying out repairs on their earthquake-stricken properties need to be wary of asbestos.

Quake hit building owners given three month deadline to repair

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Property Council says an ultimatum from the Christchurch City Council to owners of earthquake damaged commercial buildings will add to the stress business people are already under.

Canterbury quake family gives thanks this Christmas

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch woman Lavina Pockson and her family live in a house with big cracks in it, on land that's among the most damaged from the big September earthquake.

02 Joy Reid | The Christchurch Quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Joy Reid nearly gave up journalism while struggling with PTSD after covering the Christchurch earthquakes, but went on to her dream role as the Europe correspondent for TVNZ.

PGC building owner says he did all he could to make it safe

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Pyne Gould building tenants in Christchurch have told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury Earthquakes hearing they didn't feel safe there after the September quake.

Quake-hit state house tenant withholds rent

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A state house tenant in the Christchurch suburb of Avonside is withholding her rent, saying Housing New Zealand has left her in the lurch following the big earthquake.

Emergency powers being put in place in Canterbury

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Government has already put in place ten orders-in-council under emergency powers rushed through Parliament this month to deal with the aftermath of the Canterbury earthquake.

Sewage restoration given top priority

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Plans for the reconstruction of earthquake damaged parts of Christchurch are slowly taking shape as priority is given to restoring fundamental services to residential areas of the city.

New quake claim could push residents higher up queue

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Canterbury residents who haven't seen hide nor hair of a Earthquake Commission inspector have been told they might need to make a fresh claim to get noticed.

Owner asked why he didn't strengthen building before quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The owner of a building that collapsed in last February's Christchurch earthquake - killing four people - has faced questioning about why he did not get recommended strengthening work done.

Councillor says Wellington quake report highlights problems

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A new report says a major earthquake in Wellington would leave a bill of nearly 40 billion dollars, almost twice as much as that of the Canterbury quakes.

Royal Commission investigates CTV building

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission begins looking into the collapse of the Canterbury Television Building today, with dramatic evidence due to be heard from some of the survivors.

Govt buyout offer for red zoners to expire next week

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As the first of a series of Government earthquake buy-out offers approach their deadline, some home-owners in Christchurch's residential red zone are pleading for more time.

Christchurch sitting on mental health 'time bomb'

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Dr Sue Bagshaw, the head of a youth health clinic Christchurch, fears the high rates of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder among children will skyrocket due to the earthquake.

Chch man told insurance will go up by $10,000 a year

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch man has been left stunned after his insurance premium rose by 440 percent after his insurer decided his property was at a higher risk from earthquakes.

Christchurch's new QE2 sports complex opens

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury earthquakes damaged the facility beyond use, and almost six years after it was demolished, a new facility known as Taiora QE2 has risen from the rubble.

Reaction to press conference

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Communities' Earthquake Recovery Network or CanCERN represents dozens of residents' associations and community groups. Tom McBrearty is chairman, whose own house has been badly affected.

Education Minister talks on closures

Audio, Radio New Zealand

More now on the Minister of Education sticking with her proposals in February to close or merge earthquake-hit Christchurch schools, with the exception of some New Brighton schools.

CERA officials used positions for financial gain

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Two former Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority officials attempted to use their positions for their own financial gain and their actions will now be referred to the Serious Fraud Office.

Playing Favourites with Peter Marshall

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Peter Marshall is managing director of architectural firm Warren and Mahoney, part of the team selected to carry out the task of the redesign of Christchurch after the earthquakes.

Police in Canterbury are honoured

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Police officers and staff in Christchurch, who have been called the heroes of the February 2011 earthquake, have been honored today for their actions including a daring crane rescue.

Buy A Brick

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The collapse of the Christchurch Cathedral during the devastating earthquake of February the 22nd struck a powerful blow to the core of Canterbury and New Zealand as a whole.

National memorial service

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Prime Minister, John Key, has just announced that a national memorial service to mark the Christchurch earthquake will be held in the city on Friday March the 18th.

Feature Album - Band Together

Audio, Radio New Zealand

On October 23, 2010 Christchurch's Hagley Park hosted one of the biggest ever free concerts in New Zealand, following the first big earthquake to shake the city a month earlier.

Heathcote family say EQC failed them

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch family have found themselves stuck with a house that is too unsafe to live in after a fire revealed earthquake damage, which EQC admits it failed to identify.