The Earthquake Commission (EQC) criticised for misleading and inadequate measurements on housing foundations when assessing damage to Canterbury homes; Wellington historic building champions vow to save heritage structure in the capital; the spread of didymo in Fiordland; Defence Force sentencing today after drowning last year; the censorship of Maniac, arty audiences only please, and; the PM changes tack on working with NZ First.
A review of the week's main news: sex offender slips through net to teach in a number of New Zealand schools, government says it's not to blame for spreading industrial unrest, Turangi teen sentenced to 10 years jail for raping five year old, Rena captain and navigational officer plead guilty to altering ship's documents, government targets sole parents, unemployed teens, widows and women alone in welfare reforms, Otago Rugby Union fights to stave off liquidation, government promising clampdown on mistreatment and underpayment of foreign crews working on fishing boats chartered to New Zealand companies, structural engineer breaks down at Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission and Bret McKenzie earns an Oscar for a Muppet of a song.
EQC was ill-prepared to deal with the wide spread damage of the Christchurch Earthquakes and as a consequence its reputation been left in tatters with many seeing the commission as uncaring, miserly and inefficient. That is according to the findings of the inquiry into EQC and its handling of quake claims in Canterbury and Kaikōura. Inquiry Chair Dame Silvia Cartwright lays out a raft of inadequacies including EQC not being equiped to handle a mass scale managed repair programme - leading to multiple mistakes, poor staffing decisions and inadequate quality control. Damage assessments were the root of claimants disputes time and time again. Dame Silvia Cartwright described to Checkpoint the way claimants have been treated by EQC.
DAVID BENNETT to the Minister of Finance: How is the Government's economic programme helping to keep interest rates lower during this economic cycle, compared to the previous economic cycle in the mid-2000s? Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Minister of Energy and Resources: How much more is an average New Zealand household that uses 8,000kwh of power annually paying for electricity per year as of November 2013 compared to November 2008, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment's latest Quarterly Survey of Domestic Electricity Prices? Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: What will he do to "spread some of the benefits of growth" when hourly wage rates have only grown by 1.6 percent in the year to December 2013, which is close to 0 percent in real terms, when 45 percent of listed corporates have double-digit profit growth? JACQUI DEAN to the Minister for the Environment: What recent announcements has the Government made on the classification for drilling for oil and gas in New Zealand's Exclusive Economic Zone? GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister of Justice: When she told the House yesterday "I had previously told Oravida that it could not use my name or photograph to endorse or promote its business products or services" when was that and what specific circumstances did it relate to? COLIN KING to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: How is the Youth Guarantee Scheme helping the Government achieve the Better Public Services target of 85 percent of all 18-year-olds achieving NCEA Level two or an equivalent qualification in 2017? CAROL BEAUMONT to the Minister of Women's Affairs: Does she have confidence in the Ministry of Women's Affairs given their 2013 Annual Report shows that six out of seven policy outcomes have stayed the same or gone backwards in the last past year; if so, why? SCOTT SIMPSON to the Minister for Courts: How is the Government improving the way the Disputes Tribunal works to make it easier for New Zealanders to resolve civil disputes? Hon TREVOR MALLARD to the Minister of Internal Affairs: What action, if any, has he taken this year to show the Prime Minister that he has met the highest ethical standards required by Section 2.53 of the Cabinet Manual? ALFRED NGARO to the Minister of Pacific Island Affairs: What steps is the Government taking to lift the skills of Pacific people in New Zealand? DENIS O'ROURKE to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he accept the conclusion in the Human Rights Commission's report Monitoring Human Rights in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery that "many people affected by the earthquakes continue to experience deteriorating standards of living and impacts on their quality of life that go beyond the immediate effects of the disaster"? CATHERINE DELAHUNTY to the Minister of Energy and Resources: Has he had any discussions with any Indian Government Ministers about selling Solid Energy assets?