Christchurch earthquakes unveil window into past

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury earthquakes succeeded in all but destroying modern-day Christchurch, but from the rubble has emerged a surprising bonus - an insight into the city's history.

Labour's Lianne Dalziel announces she will run for mayoralty

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The fight to become the next mayor of Christchurch stepped up today with Labour Party's earthquake spokesperson, Lianne Dalziel, announcing she wants the job.

Academic is concerned Chch will struggle to fully recover

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A professor studying the economics of disasters says Christchurch will struggle to ever fully recover from the earthquakes that have devastated the city.

EQC to meet with Institute of Surveyors

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Commission has agreed to meet with the Institute of Surveyors next week over concerns about how assessments of earthquake damaged Christchurch homes are being done.

Poetica

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Poetica is a series of large-scale paintings of 20 different poems in twenty different languages, paying tribute to the different nationalities lost in the Christchurch earthquake.

KPMG forensic services talk about Christchurch rebuild fraud

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Recovery Minister says he's instructed government agencies to prosecute any fraudulent activity during the Christchurch rebuild, to the full extent of the law.

Repairs on the homes of vulnerable people took too long

Audio, Radio New Zealand

An audit of the Earthquake Commission's quake repairs in Christchurch has found many dissatisfied home owners and others being left in the dark.

Chch population shifts have implications for council

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A property expert says a dramatic shift in the population north and west of Christchurch after the earthquakes has serious implications for council's rate take.

Chch City Council and govt hammer out deal

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council and the Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, have hammered out a compromise deal over setting the council's long term spending priorities.

Community groups upset about wastewater rebuild plans

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Christchurch community groups say a programme to rebuild the city's wastewater and storm water systems to a pre-earthquake equivalent isn't good enough.

Govt says acquisition price for Chch property 'about right'

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee, says the Government's got the price 'about right' for land it's bought for Christchurch's refurbished central business district.

EQC chief responds to highly critical report

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A new report says the Earthquake Commission was ill-prepared for a major earthquake and had to use inexperienced staff to respond to the Canterbury earthquakes.

Andy Buchanan - timber and earthquakes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Professor of Timber Design at the University of Canterbury, who is playing a key role in the international resurgence in the use of timber for large-scale buildings.

Ombudsman report details inefficiencies at EQC

Audio, Radio New Zealand

An earthquake community group in Canterbury says a damning report on the ineffectiveness of the Earthquake Commission highlights the frustration of getting information on their own homes.

Lianne Dalziel wouldn't be leaving if not for quakes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

In her valedictory speech to Parliament, the Christchurch East MP Lianne Dalziel said she would not be leaving Parliament if not for the Canterbury earthquakes.

Brownlee to meet with Chch mayor over consenting today

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee says it would be an absolute disaster for Christchurch, if the City Council stopped issuing building consents next week.

Concerns highlighted about high costs of dumping quake rubble

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Record fines for two companies and a director who illegally dumped contaminated demolition material has highlighted problems with the costs of dumping earthquake rubble from Christchurch.

EQC respond to claims of inadequate assessments

Audio, Radio New Zealand

EQC's manager for the Canterbury home repair programme, Reid Stiven, respondes to claims of misleading estimates of damage to household foundations from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes.

Tower insurance admits seeking cheapest option

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Tower Insurance has increased the amount it is willing to pay towards repairing an earthquake-damaged Christchurch home, but is still refusing to pay for a more expensive rebuild.

Rebuild fraud will be pursued to full extent of law

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Earthquake Recovery Minister says he's instructed government agencies to prosecute any fraudulent activity during the Christchurch rebuild, to the full extent of the law.

EQC emails private information to wrong person

Audio, Radio New Zealand

In a serious privacy breach - the addresses and earthquake claim details of almost ten thousand Canterbury people have been mistakenly emailed by Earthquake Commission to the wrong person.

Recipient of EQC email says don't play politics

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The man who received Earthquake Commission files detailing claims by 83,000 Christchurch people says he's appalled the slip-up has become a political football.

Liability fears hinder the assessment of quake-prone buildings

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The president of the Structural Engineers' Society, John Hare, says since the Christchurch earthquakes, engineers have been too conservative in evaulations for fear of liability.

Elderly low on priority list for earthquake repairs

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A forum's heard from older people in Christchurch saying they feel vulnerable, misled, and left out in the cold when it comes to earthquake repairs and payouts.

CERA pays more for PR advice

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority spent more than three million dollars on communications staff and consultants in the last financial year, up by a third on the previous year.

Community groups homeless after quake-prone facility closed

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Two years after the Christchurch earthquakes, the city council has only finished detailed assessments of about half its community facilities, and nasty surprises are still cropping up.

Council staff given hurry up over quake repairs

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch City Council staff have been given the hurry up from councillors over the length of time it is taking to repair or replace earthquake-damaged council housing.

Calls for asbestos register in Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

An Earthquake Commission policy of covering over asbestos in quake-damaged Canterbury houses and not making that information publicly available, is being described as shortsighted and potentially harmful.

Midday News for 20 February 2013

Audio, Radio New Zealand

About 70 percent of Canterbury's residential earthquake claims have not been dealt with and submissions on the closure of Christchurch schools show some are willing to sacrifice their neighbours.

First census in seven years takes place today

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Today is census day; the first nationwide stocktake in seven years after the census was called off in 2011 because of the February earthquake in Christchurch.