Three leading artists: the singer Madeleine Pierard; the children's book illustrator Gavin Bishop and playwright and actor Jacob Rajan discuss why they create work with Paul Bushnell. Awa Press writer Jane Bowron reads from her book Old Bucky & Me: Dispatches from the Christchurch Earthquake.
Three leading artists: the singer Madeleine Pierard; the children's book illustrator Gavin Bishop and playwright and actor Jacob Rajan discuss why they create work with Paul Bushnell. Awa Press writer Jane Bowron reads from her book Old Bucky & Me: Dispatches from the Christchurch Earthquake.
Johanna McCord moved to Christchurch just before the first earthquake in September nearly four years ago. But she fell in love with the city, regardless of its tectonic troubles. Johanna has just set up a blog called 'We Built This City' which is designed to showcase some of Christchurch's businesses and events. More than an information hub, it takes a personal look at some of the people who are really making a difference in the quake struck city.
Topics - If you like a quiet time, head for the Spanish city of Seville. Seville's silent summer, they're calling this. They've banned outdoor noise. Seville's been noisy; flamenco singers, old men playing dominoes, bar patrons chatting. The city councillors have now banned most of this, and they seem to have support. Gerry Brownlee the Earthquake Recovery Minister will have the final say over what happens to a piece of land near Christchurch airport, on the corner of Memorial Ave and Russley Road. It's currently zoned as rural, but industrial development could be on the cards. The NYT wonders why with so much violence in movies and games, the big Comic-con pop entertainment convention in San Diego is so peaceful. John Banks snapped phone-driving, we saw at the weekend. John Banks accused of breaking the law again, this time for using a cellphone while driving.
The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority will be travelling the length of New Zealand this week to drum up investment in the rebuild of Christchurch's city centre.
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. (This version of the audio does not include music)
The Christchurch Art Gallery is on track to reopen late next year, almost five years after the most devastating of the city's earthquakes put it out of commission. One of the key players in this important next step is Dr Lara Strongman who is the gallery's new senior curator.
A new study suggests young Maori wahine are being let down by the health system, because of inadequate information to help them find a midwife; A South Island marae has accepted a donation to repair its wharekai damaged during the 2011 Canterbury earthquakes; About 750 Maori and Pasifika Auckland tertiary students will celebrate their academic achievement this week.
Topics - ready with the pumps at last this time, but thankfully not as much rain - so far - as feared for people in the low-lying Flockton Basin in Christchurch. Labour's proposing a special court be set up just to deal with earthquake insurance claims, as part of a policy around the Christchurch rebuild. The policy would see an Earthquake Court established to try to speed up the settling of 9,755 outstanding "over cap" insurance claims. John Banks will be gone by Friday from Parliament, at the behest of the ACT party with a gentle nudge from the Nats as well. The PM thinks it's a joke that the Civilian political party, run by Ben Uffindell and named after his satirical webite, will receive $33,000 of taxpayer funding for the coming election.
Urban Search and Rescue's lead dog trainer, Brenda Woolley talks about her 17 years of training dogs to step up in dangerous and chaotic situations - including in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Her lifelong ability to build rapport with dogs, and spot which ones have potential to do the tough jobs, led to Brenda working in animal control for the Christchurch City Council - she and her husband Rex have run the Council's dog shelter for 29 years - before she got into Land Search and Rescue and later, Urban SAR. She has a QSM for services to Urban Search and Rescue. If you think your dog fits the requirements Brenda outlines in this interview, and you're keen to register your interest with Urban Search and Rescue, you can visit the team's website, http://www.usardogs.org.nz/
TRACEY MARTIN to the Minister responsible for Novopay: Does he stand by his statement of 11 February 2014, "education payroll is the most complex in New Zealand and more work remains to be done to simplify the business processes to ensure it runs as smoothly as possible each year"? Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that "the true builders of that future are the millions of New Zealanders working in the homes, the businesses, the industries of our country"? MAGGIE BARRY to the Minister of Finance: What progress is the Government making with its share offer programme, which is freeing up money for reinvestment in new public assets without having to increase Government debt? ANDREW LITTLE to the Attorney-General: Will he release all correspondence between the Christchurch Crown Solicitor or any other solicitor acting for the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, and counsel for Peter Whittall on the decision not to proceed with the prosecution of Mr Whittall under the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 relating to conditions at the Pike River Mine that lead to the deaths of 29 miners; if not, why not? KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister of Health: When were Ministry of Health officials first informed that the dispute between the Southern District Health Board and South Link Health involved allegations of the misuse of public funding, and when were they first informed that this alleged misuse was suspected to involve elements that could be fraud? Dr CAM CALDER to the Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment: What announcements has the Government made on the Tertiary Education Strategy for New Zealand? Hon RUTH DYSON to the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission: Does he stand by his statement made yesterday in the House with regard to Canterbury Labour Members of Parliament that they "have made no more than five requests for assistance through the Earthquake Commission"; if not, when will he be correcting his statement and apologising? MARK MITCHELL to the Minister for Communications and Information Technology: How is the Government's Information and Communication Technology programme improving New Zealanders' access to improved technology and better connectivity? GRANT ROBERTSON to the Minister of Justice: On what date did she receive an invitation to visit the Shanghai office of Oravida Ltd during her Ministerial visit to China in October 2013, and what actions did she take to ensure this visit met her obligations under the Cabinet Manual? CATHERINE DELAHUNTY to the Associate Minister of Education: Did the communities in Christchurch, Auckland and Queenstown, where four schools are to be built using a public-private partnership (PPP) model, ask the Government for private sector management of their school buildings? PAUL FOSTER-BELL to the Minister of Health: What investment is the Government making in improving nutrition and exercise for pre-schoolers? JOANNE HAYES to the Minister of Corrections: What steps has the Government taken to improve access to alcohol and drug treatment for prisoners?
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?