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.
Australia's controversial offshore detention regime hits a massive stumbling block; Fiji's parliament votes against reinstating the Great Council of Chiefs; Stalemate over probe into high profile PNG fraud case; Pacific thinking about collective action over long line fishing; Lessons from the Christchurch earthquakes used to heal in Fiji; CNMI school group to challenge court gun ruling; Secret to Pacific growth in its growing working age population; Fiji disappointed after Radradra picked for Australia.
A Christchurch woman whose mother died in the 2011 earthquake says an apology from the Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel does not lessen her grief. Yesterday - nine years and one day since the quake killed 185 people - Dalziel invited their families for a private apology. She acknowledged errors made by engineers and the city council in regards to the CTV building. Julie Hibbs lost her mother in the collapse of the building. She speaks to Susie Ferguson.
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.
Gaylene Preston has been making feature films and documentaries with a distinctive NZ flavour for over 30 years. Her latest venture is an epic six part drama series called Hope and Wire, which she produced and directed. Set in Christchurch in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes, Hope and Wire is a fictionalised mix of characters - families that fly apart, others that come together - and what happens to a city that loses it's centre in an instant.
Meet a local town hero from Auckland's Northshore - 86-year-old Māori Warden Peggy Hughes.
Peggy has been serving in her community as a volunteer for about 60 years and officially as a Māori Warden for almost 50 years.
She's won dozens of awards for her services - from working at the 1981 Springbok tour protests, supporting Christchurch residents after the 2011 earthquakes, serving at many memorable Waitangi Day events to the recent Black Lives Matter protests.
Topics - A Christchurch resident says he just wants to get on with his life after his house was flooded for the ninth time since the 2011 earthquake. Fairfax newspapers today feature the story of an elderly gentleman who has been burgled so many times he's afraid to sleep in his own home. In Southland - A 72-year old woman has had her 30-year church membership revoked because she is living in a de facto relationship.
Nine to Noon has been told that the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment is leading a multiagency group - including the Earthquake Commission, Fletcher Construction's EQR and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet - to try to identify which houses may have have had a high risk of containing asbestos and thereby quantify how many people may have been exposed. With Graham Darlow, Chief executive of Fletcher Construction and Gerry Brownlee, Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery.
Police prosecutor jailed for dealing drugs;Sharebrokers getting late rush of MRP investors;Pressure mounts on MP Aaron Gilmore;Police rule out anyone else being at risk;Mother of electrocuted son is pleased that electricians been named and shamed;NZ Post signals to Government it will need to invest in KiwiBank in two years;Judge says young killer could have made something of himself;Elderly in Christchurch say they are low on priority list for earthquake repairs and payouts.
Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.
The Temple for Christchurch is an enormous work, representing the seismic wave of the February 22 earthquake. Made mostly from salvaged wood it's taken a team of volunteers two years to build. But it will meet a fiery end on Saturday night when it is deliberately set alight. Justin Gregory meets the designer and his volunteers with two weeks left until burn day. But when he gets there, none are to be found.
Protecting live music venues is taking on a new urgency in Christchurch, with the popular 12 Bar announcing it will close at the end of the month. With people flocking back to live in the central city after the earthquakes, there have been more complaints about noise from entertainment venues. But the local music scene says positive changes are in the works, so residents and live venues can live in harmony. Niva Chittock reports.
A business owner wants more stringent background checks for people creating professional online profiles after discovering a potential business advisor is currently on home detention for corruption.
Gerard Gallagher was convicted in June after trying to personally profit from information obtained while working for the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority and Ōtākaro Limited between 2014 and 2017.
Online, he promotes himself as a Business Advisor despite still serving a sentence of 12 months' home detention.
Niva Chittock reports.
Canterbury got a big shock this morning with a long and strong earthquake that sent people running for the nearest door frame. While the region seems to have escaped any major damage, it's left locals thankful it wasn't worse. The quake measured 6.0 on the richter scale and was centred 45 kilometes north of Geraldine. Since then, there have been more than 40 aftershocks. Checkpoint producer Anastasia Hedge has been near the epicentre.
An icon of Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour is set to re-open tomorrow, after being damaged in the Canterbury Earthquakes. The Governors Bay jetty, locally known for its extraordinary length and unofficial jetty jump competitions, has been closed since 2015. Now, it's back to its former glory, just in time for summer. Niva Chittock went for a sneak peek ahead of the official opening. [embed] https://players.brightcove.net/6093072280001/default_default/index.html?videoId=6338047392112
Twelve years after the CTV building collapsed during the Christchurch earthquake, families of the victims killed inside have told an engineering disciplinary hearing they want justice and accountability. 115 people died when the six-storey building came down in February 2011. A complaint against an engineer whose firm designed the building is being heard by an Engineering New Zealand disciplinary committee. Dr Alan Reay lost a High Court bid to stop the hearing. Anna Sargent reports.
On today's First Up pod: The fallout from the resignation of the Archbishop of Canterbury continues - Henry Riley joined First Up from London, an overnight earthquake and the world's worst pollution - Anas Mallick reports from Pakistan, Waikato is our neighbourhood this week - Natalie Akoorie is RNZ's eyes and ears in Hamilton, and Treaty of Waitangi expert Dr Aroha Harris tells Nathan Rarere that Treaty Principles have been around since our founding document was signed. First Up - Voice of the Nathan!
National MP Gerry Brownlee says it's a great tragedy that the former chairman of government insurer Southern Response has been treated the way that he has. Ross Butler resigned on Tuesday night after a State Services Commission inquiry found Southern Response had broken its code of conduct and possibly the law, when it used private investigators to secretly record meetings of earthquake victims. The Minister for Christchurch Regeneration Megan Woods says Mr Butler was aware of what was going on, as was Mr Brownlee when he was a Minister.
From the time it opened in the 1920s, the Winter Garden ballroom was the place to go for debutante balls and big-band concerts in Christchurch. Queen Elizabeth II even dined there during her visit in 1954. But this special part of Christchurch's history is over and the Armagh Street building has been placed on the urgent demolition list because of earthquake damage. Tiny Kirk is the chairman of the Trade Union Centre which has owned the building since 1984.
There are hopes an earthquake simulation in Porirua might result in homes being better prepared for a big shake. Houses on Christchurch's Port Hills suffered more damage than houses in other areas during the Canterbury Earthquakes - even though the ground shaking was roughly the same. Now the Earthquake Commission is on a mission to find out why that was - and prevent the same level of damage in a future quake. Checkpoint reporter Logan Church and video journalist Dom Thomas start their report up on a hilly farm above Wellington.
On 22 February 2011, Christchurch police sargeant Dave Harvey was outside the earthquake-damaged Hotel Grand Chancellor on Cashel Street, unsure if anyone was trapped inside. In case they were, he grabbed a can of spray paint and painted 'Help is on the way' in one-metre high letters on the road. Harvey's quick thinking really helped the people trapped in the hotel, says Clare Mackey, producer of the new documentary Help is on the Way.
Topics - the latest twist in the Kim Dotcom saga is that the police have announced they're investigating the Government Communications Security Bureau's illegal surveillance of the internet mogul. New research has shown that membership of all mainstream Christian denominations has fallen to historic lows - except for Catholicism. New research has uncovered the role underground rock structures played in stopping the September 2010 Christchurch earthquake from linking up with the Port Hills faultline and causing greater damage to Christchurch.
Despite a hasty retreat from its iconic building in Christchurch's Square following the February earthquake, 'The Press', is in celebration mode. It's 150 years since the paper began with a six page edition that sold for six pence. It's first pages warned of the crippling cost of a new tunnel and rail line connecting Lyttelton to Christchurch, and on the back, a for sale ad for 100,000 gorse plants! Deb Nation finds the paper celebrated their centenary 50 years earlier, with memories of pigeon post and paper boys.
Topics - Eight days on from the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that killed at least 161 people in Christchurch, officials have announced that the rescue effort will now transition to a recovery operation. Dunedin shares the nation's sorrow for Christchurch - but the ODT reports today that it could also benefit from an influx of workers and businesses relocating from the Garden City. Some Christchurch landlords have been labelled opportunistic vultures for ramping up rents for homeless businesses trying to find temporary office space.
A review of the week's news including the aftermath of Auckland's killer Tornado, the pros and cons of the castration of serial sex offenders, the current state of the property market, the RNZAF's first revamped Orion on show, a Penthouse posing teacher's registration is revoked, Rugby World Cup opportunities for NZ business, a heroic ship wreck rescue remembered 80 years on and a true story of 'the show must go on' in the aftermth of the Christchurch earthquake.
A review of the week's news including the aftermath of Auckland's killer Tornado, the pros and cons of the castration of serial sex offenders, the current state of the property market, the RNZAF's first revamped Orion on show, a Penthouse posing teacher's registration is revoked, Rugby World Cup opportunities for NZ business, a heroic ship wreck rescue remembered 80 years on and a true story of 'the show must go on' in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.
Several iwi are joining a pan-tribal hui against new oil drilling and mining; The body of the former Maori Women's Welfare League national president, Meagan Joe, will be moved from a Napier marae to another in Mohaka in northern Hawkes Bay later today; Marae and Maori families around the country are opening their doors to Canterbury earthquake victims who have also suffered from domestic violence; The lead agency for Whanau Ora in Whangarei says it could use a few more Nannies on Wheels.
A review of the week's news including: Prosecutions against thirteen of the seventeen people arrested in police raids in the Ureweras and elsewhere are dropped, the Christchurch earthquake one year on, health officials take expert advice on containing a deadly meningitis outbreak in Northland, a group of Dunedin volunteers are making a photographic record of thousands of the city's old gravestones, more Kiwis will have their calls monitored by researchers at Victoria University and DOC and an enthusiastic Rugby World Cup welcome Tongan style.
Topics - A couple of New Zealand women, determined to carry on clubbing with kids, have launched the first New Zealand-based"Baby Loves Disco"franchise in Auckland's Viaduct. The"sheer strength and power"of the September the 4th earthquake has more than doubled the number of reported supernatural events in Canterbury, according to a paranormal investigator. The 2010 Census of Women's Participation reveals that female participation in governance, professional and public life is slipping away - erasing gains made in the past decades.
A review of the week's news including: The aftermath of New Zealand's worst aviation disaster since Erebus, Ports of Auckland industrial negotiations break down again while a report calls for privatising ports, the earthquake recovery minister is offside with the Christchurch business community, how safe is hunting in new Zealand? notorious criminal Dean Wickcliff behind bars again, turning Wellington's white knuckle flight arrivals into an opportunity, and something different for the kids these school holidays... adopt a pony.
