Thousands of people are making insurance claims after heavy rain and flooding in the north of New Zealand, especially in Auckland. Insurance lawyer Peter Woods has worked on property claims for earthquake damage in Canterbury and Marlborough.. He has also been an Independent Specialist Adviser to the government. Peter talks to Lisa Owen.
What does leadership look like in a disaster? David compares Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown's leadership this week with how Bob Parker and Lianne Dalziel coped with the Christchurch earthquakes and terror attacks. He looks at how current Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger's council is faring and whether reality meets the rhetoric and what's happened to the city's Metro Sports facility, one of the anchor projects in the rebuild.
There's good news of sorts on the building-inspection front in Auckland. After nearly seven days of fanning out across the city inspecting damaged buildings - the biggest such deployment of building inspectors since the Christchurch earthquake emergency - the operation will be scaled back this weekend. There are currently around 95 inspectors in the field who have checked 3,500 buildings. As of 6pm last night 190 buildings were red stickered, and a further 790 yellow stickered. The most red stickered areas are Mount Albert/Mt Eden with 54 and the North Shore with 32. Auckland Council general manager building consents Ian McCormick spoke to Corin Dann.
More than 11,000 people reported feeling the earthquake that hit just after 2am on Friday. The magnitude 4.8 quake was centred 5-kilometres south of Te Aroha, at a depth of 6-kilometres. People from Kaitaia, through to the sodden regions of Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Coromandel, and even down in Christchurch, reported feeling it. A series of weaker aftershocks began to strike 40 minutes later, although there are no immediate reports of damage as of yet. It's not the first quake to hit Te Aroha this year - a 5.1 quake rattled the town on January 4. Te Kuiti resident Zane Burdett and Kees Meinderts from Motumaoho, just south of Morrinsville, spoke to Corin Dann.
As Auckland and Northland brace for more atrocious weather, city leaders are calling for funding to repair the city's broken infrastructure to be along the lines of the help given to Christchurch after the quakes. Auckland deputy mayor Desley Simpson says that the damage so far is equivalent to the biggest non earthquake event the country has ever had and should be treated accordingly. The Opportunities Party says the "alliance" model established after the earthquakes, was effective and would work for Auckland's rebuild, because it provides a structure that the Central Government can fund directly. ToP leader Raf Manji was a Christchurch councillor after the quakes and closely involved in the rebuild. He tells Kathryn Ryan it is vital to ensure water and transport infrastructure is repaired quickly and efficiently, especially with a view to future extreme weather events - and there is much to learn from the post-quake rebuild.
Three years after the earthquakes robbed Christchurch of its chance to host England during the Rugby World Cup, the tourists finally made it onto a Canterbury field.
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/
EQC claimant Anita explains how she's still battling the Crown agency, years after her home was damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. She says her floor is still uneven because the scope of works didn't state for it to be "flat".
It's almost eight years to the day since the first Christchurch earthquake, and as anyone who lives in Christchurch knows, some insurance claims are still in dispute. Dodgy repairs are still being discovered and previously undiscovered damage is being found. Earthquake Commission minister Megan Woods says as problems emerge, people can come back and ask for re-repairs or have their home looked at. But just how much money is in the National Disaster Fund?
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.
Lyttelton Port is applauding a government decision to use the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Act to speed up the redevelopment of the badly damaged port.
New research shows many Cantabrians are still struggling to cope with the after effects of the earthquakes.
Kaiapoi, just north of Christchurch, has unveiled a bold new plan for the parts of the town wiped off the map in the Canterbury earthquakes. The plan proposes having house boats on the river that runs through the town, there'll be a place for campervans to park up and a covered sports facility is on the cards.
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.
Hon SIMON BRIDGES to the Prime Minister: Does she stand by all her Government’s policies and actions? KIRITAPU ALLAN to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he seen on the need for innovation in the New Zealand economy? Hon AMY ADAMS to the Minister of Finance: Does he agree with the Prime Minister’s comment, “I absolutely believe that our agenda will grow the economy, will make sure businesses are in a position to grow and prosper, because I need that economic growth to be able to lift the well-being of all New Zealanders”? Hon PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he still think the ANZ survey of business confidence is junk? Dr DUNCAN WEBB to the Minister of Justice: What recent announcements has he made about the Family Court? Hon MICHAEL WOODHOUSE to the Minister of Immigration: Does he stand by all of his statements and actions? JONATHAN YOUNG to the Minister of Energy and Resources: What advice, if any, did she receive in respect of the obligation to act in accordance with the Minerals Programme for Petroleum regarding the Government’s decision to offer no new offshore permits? ANDREW BAYLY to the Minister for Building and Construction: What procedures, if any, will she put into place to ensure Government agencies adhere to MBIE’s Government procurement guidelines for construction projects? Hon Dr NICK SMITH to the Minister of Justice: Does he stand by all of his statements on the Electoral (Integrity) Amendment Bill and the potential chilling effect it will have on the expression of dissenting views? CHRIS BISHOP to the Minister of Internal Affairs: Does she stand by all her statements around the Government inquiry into the appointment of the Deputy Commissioner of Police? Dr LIZ CRAIG to the Minister of Health: What confidence can the public take from the review of the National Bowel Screening Programme that was released this morning? STUART SMITH to the Minister of Justice: What advice, if any, has he received on the need for the Canterbury Earthquakes Insurance Tribunal?
Hundreds of Christchurch homeowners have discovered extensive damage to the on-sold properties they purchased after the 2010/2011 earthquakes. Licenced Building Practictioner Dan Paltridge talks to Logan Church about what people need to look out for, and what they need to do before buying a home in the city.
Christchurch’s new $92m central city library opened today – replacing the former library which was damaged in the Canterbury earthquakes. But as Logan Church discovers, with sewing suites, a TV wall and a music studio, this library is home to more than rows and rows of books.
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.
The chair of the inquiry in to the Earthquake Commission has grave concerns about the state of the housing stock in Christchurch due to EQC's failure to properly fix quake damage. It's just one of a raft of findings released by Dame Silvia Cartwright today, after a year and a half long inquiry that heard from hundreds of homeowners and key players. Conan Young has the story.
An report into EQC finds it was poorly prepared for the Canterbury earthquakes. Quarantined travelers have moved before 14 days. Anna Thomas has the news.
An inquiry into the Earthquake Commission has found it was poorly prepared for the Canterbury earthquakes - and has left people with a "deep mistrust of government" that will take years to overcome. The government has this morning released findings from the inquiry, chaired by Dame Silvia Cartwright. Our Christchurch reporter, Conan Young, has been reading through the details and spoke with Māni Dunlop.
Canterbury homeowners are questioning the validity of a survey which was supposed to independently test the quality of earthquake repairs.
Canterbury homeowners are questioning the validity of a survey which was supposed to independently test the quality of earthquake repairs.
A Taranaki business owner is warning leaseholders to read the fine print of their contracts after being asked to pay his rent in full despite a clause in his lease allowing for a rent cut if he couldn't legally access the property. Clause 27.5 was included in the Auckland District Law Society commercial lease in 2012 in response to the Canterbury earthquakes, when many leaseholders were barred from their businesses. RNZ reporter Robin Martin has more.
It's 10 years since the first big Christchurch earthquake - and if you'd just started school then you're now ending your decade of education amidst a global pandemic. We meet two teens for whom disruption is normal.
How do you help children cope with a life-threatening incident? And what if you’re stressed yourself? Katy Gosset looks at the far reaching emotional effects of the Canterbury earthquakes.
Some 10 years on from the devastating Canterbury quakes, the wait is still not over when it comes to law changes needed to improve the Earthquake Commission. The government will not get it done until 2021, if it's re-elected. Meanwhile cases of botched quake repairs needing a fix are still flooding into EQC, Greater Christchurch Regeneration Minister Megan Woods told Checkpoint.
The government plans to introduce legislation to change the Earthquake Commission's operations, after a report found major failings. It found EQC was woefully unprepared as it dealt with the Canterbury quakes, and made dozens of recommendations about clarifying EQC's role and improving the way it deals with claimants. RNZ political reporter Yvette McCullough has more.
Our managed isolation hotels are too posh and returnees should not be treated like hotel guests with luxuries like free menu choices and drycleaning. That's the verdict from New Zealand woman Toni Foster who has returned to the country to take up a job and has spent the past 11 days in isolation at Ellerslie's Novotel Hotel. Toni says she had expected to return to isolation in accommodation similar to the container village after the Christchurch earthquakes - not a free four or five star hotel which she said some returnees were treating as a holiday. She says returnees should not be treated like hotel guests because they're not paying a cent to be there.
National's new deputy leader Gerry Brownlee discusses today's resignations from Nikki Kaye and Amy Adams, his track record in helping Christchurch earthquake claimants, and National's plans for the Auckland Central electorate.