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Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including: Accusations in a new book that the defence force misled Ministers about what it's been doing in Afganistan, the EQC more than doubles it's estimate of how much it will pay out on Christchurch earthquakes claims, more than 800 military medals worth a quarter of a million dollars revealed stolen from the Waiouru National Army Museum, strong support for a proposed coal mine on the West Coast's Denniston plateau, will the Rugby World Cup deliver a hoped for economic boost as forcast, New Zealand shotput champion Valerie Adams wins her third straight World championship and the Penquin 'Happy Feet' heads south.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Week In Review for week ending 12 August 2011... featuring a new rebuild plan for Christchurch's earthquake ravaged CBD, problems at the Waikato-Tainui Tribal Parliament, a pricing fiasco surrounding the Adidas All Blacks Rugby World Cup jersey, the Mana party confirms it will contest all seven Maori seats and some general seats in November's general election, the renaming of Mt Cook's South Ridge to The Hillary Ridge and the White Mouse passes away.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including: Labour struggling to put a dent in the National Party's lead in the polls, questions over Israelis caught up in the Christchurch earthquake, the latest from the Pike River Mine inquiry, electricity price rises fuelling inflation, an Auckland school wanting all students to take an iPad to class and Steve Williams dropped as Tiger Wood's caddy.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including: The Labour Party's capital gains tax policy announcement, Act's creative director resigns over newspaper ad, day two and three reports from the Pike River Mine tragedy Royal Commission Of Inquiry, the treatment of Crete veterans during recent 70th anniversary commemorations, Sydenham recovery following Christchurch earthquake, Lonely Planet puts Christchurch back on it's visit list and small brewers angry over Radler beer trademark ruling.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 17th June. This week..........barely two weeks after Canterbury was warned of a one in four chance of a big earthquake striking within a year, Christchurch residents are dealing with the effects of two major aftershocks that hit the region on Monday, and homeowners in the city are calling for the government to reveal which quake hit suburbs will be abandoned, Mediawatch looks at the "sideshow syndrome" that exists in media coverage of politics , the life-forms that exist in the seemingly barren ice in antarctica, and a photographer who'se taken portaits of some of the most powerful men on the planet.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news: Another earthquake in Christchurch, Prime Minister tight-lipped over what land will be abandoned because of repeated earthquake damage, volcanic ash cloud strands thousands of air passengers, tragic death of teen reignites debate over alcohol reform, problem gambling advocate objects to proposed casino expansion, wool the star at Fieldays and New Zealanders flock to the ballet.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 16 December. This week .... This week...another housing boom as property prices increase, the current state of Maori journalism, two stories from Canterbury's earthquake - a victim's recovery and a musician's return, a look back at the life of an albatross genius, the DNA of food, performing Shakespeare in te reo Maori and 200 years of wedding fashion on exhibition at Te Papa.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Highlights from Radio New Zealand National's programmes for the week ending Friday 6th April. This week... we look at the commercial deals some media personalities are making these days, a documentary on the history of New Zealand's psychiatric hospitals, a new social phenomenon - the increasing number of people who choose to live alone, a new book and interesting findings about our national icon the kiwi, With the aid of advanced functional MRI scanners, scientists are getting closer to being able to read your mind, the opening of a public art project by the Christchurch Art Gallery to try and ensure art continues to have a presence in the earthquake hit city.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's headline news including: 123 jobs at KiwiRail's engineering workshops in Dunedin hang in the balance; SkyCity's Chief Executive is defending gaming options at its Auckland casino; orthopaedic surgeons say they're working hard to determine exactly how many New Zealanders have a hip replacement system that's been recalled; tobacco companies are vowing to fight a government plan to remove branding from cigarette packets; the rebuild of central Christchurch has been taken out of the control of the City Council and will now be managed by a newly formed unit within the Government's Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA); Trade Me's decision to open up the site to overseas retailers is ruffling a few feathers and; Hamilton singer Kimbra's hit number one in the US.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... A tsunami warning after a severe 7.1 earthquake north of East Cape, Havelock North's residents finally get the chance to grill their local leaders, the Environment Minister says people who insist that every lake and river should be safe to swim in are being unrealistic, Kim Dotcom wins his bid to live stream his High Court appeal against his extradition, New Zealanders who've been living in Australia for up to ten years say they're reaching breaking point, legal action over faulty steel mesh triggers doubts about some house insurance, a prominent Maori leader is found guilty of defrauding his fellow trustees in the Wellington Tenths Trust, a South Canterbury farming official says stealing 500 cows is like stealing the Crown jewels - complicated but not impossible, Auckland mayoral candidate Vic Crone pledges to bring forward the cross-harbour tunnel project by a decade or more after saying she'd make no commitments on it, while another candidate, Phil Goff wants to introduce a living wage for all council staff, the transgender community wants the waiting times for sex change operations cut, a sit down chat with Olympic pole vaulting bronze medalist Eliza McCartney and the real story behind the 2nd Bledisloe Cup test in Wellington from a former Wallaby.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... An immigration lawyer says 'paying for jobs' is so rampant in New Zealand there needs to be a fresh look at powers available to officials, criminals are using sex to blackmail Indian male students, Auckland lays out its plan to spend 83 billion dollars on transport, the electrified section of the main trunk line between Auckland and Wellington could be mothballed, frustrated advocates are calling for better reporting of suicides committed by current and former members of the military, doctors say making voluntary euthanasia legal would involve many complex and difficult decisions and New Zealand should avoid it, the Morning Report Wellington mayoral candidates debate, a Maori fisheries body wants the Maori Party to abandon its support for the Government if plans for a Kermadec ocean sanctuary go ahead unchanged, Maori representation becomes a virtual no-go area for those vying for public office in New Plymouth, Colin Craig denies ever sending his former press secretary explicit text messages, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child raises concerns about the naming of the new children's ministry, MPs hear emotional pleas from the family of soldiers killed in action and buried in Malaysia for the government to bring their remains home, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band will perform in Christchurch on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Canterbury earthquakes this summer and Prince Charles praises New Zealand soldiers who fought at the Somme at a centennary ceremony in Northern France.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Today RNZ's Midday supervising producer, Denise Garland, looks at two brand new podcasts. Collapse is a podcast from Stuff, all about the Christchurch earthquakes in the lead up the to 10th anniversary of the devastating quake on February 22nd. She also looks at NZ Wars - Stories of Tainui from RNZ which over the three episodes covers the war of Waikato in the 1860s, the great war for New Zealand, a defining conflict of New Zealand.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

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.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Mention the words "earthquake" in the same brief as "remediation" and it's enough to strike fear in the hearts of all New Zealanders, particularly those in Christchurch and other earthquake prone areas of the country. Now we find the chances of the ground shaking more violently in a quake is much higher than previously thought for large parts of the country. In some places it has doubled or even trebled. What are the ramifications of this new found knowledge? Joining the show to discuss is Michelle Grant, President of the Structural Engineering Society New Zealand, and Matt Gerstenberger, Principal Scientist and Seismologist at GNS Science

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... National MP Todd Barclay falls on his sword while Labour is in damage control, the decision to not prosecute the Pike River Mine CEO is to be contested in the Supreme Court, the lawyer for Akshay Chand says she sought bail on his behalf believing his mother and aunt would monitor his every movement, The Education Ministry is forced to apologise for its flawed handling of school closures and mergers after the 2011 Canterbury earthquake, The Health Minister is forced to defend his embattled Ministry following a major budget blunder, employment lawyers aren't surprised another health sector group is taking a pay equity claim, Ministry for Primary Industries officials come under fire at a packed Stewart Island public meeting on the cull of the island's farmed oysters, it's Plan B for a crowd funded initiative that wants to take control of Dunedin's Cadbury factory and All Black great Sir Colin 'pinetree' Meads has been immortalised in bronze.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... a two billion dollar pay equity settlement, the Government announces changes it says are aimed at improving the quality of immigrants and controlling the quantity, irresponsible, unsafe, and unethical -- that's how a new Netflix series aimed at teenagers is being described, the top family court judge fires back at criticisms levelled at the court system by a new women's advocacy group, the Prime Minister who oversaw the dramatic undermining of unions now says unions have probably become too small, a review of Mental Health Services finds they are under pressure, under resourced and not widely understood, the Air Force's NH90 helicopters have been all but grounded, an eight-year-old girl is pulled alive from Manukau Harbour after treading water for more than two hours, the conversion of thousands of hectares of the Mackenzie Basin to dairy farms has been halted, tampons and sanitary pads will not be subsidised for all women by Pharmac, the government department set up to make the economy bigger isn't sure it can reach the goals it set for itself, Central Christchurch residents say they're under siege from sex workers and are threatening legal action, the massive Kaikoura earthquake may have saved the town from having to spend millions of dollars and the largest multi-sport event in the world has arrived in Auckland.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... New questions are raised by leaked video footage showing a robot and two workers inside the Pike River mine just months after the 2010 disaster, fresh happy faces in the newly announced Labour list line up, the country's two biggest media companies have been given a strong message from the regions after their proposed merger is knocked back, a full biosecurity operation launched in Kerikeri, Wellington house prices soar, a helicopter pilot describes his crash north of Wellington as 'frightening', women in the Mongrel Mob say there is now less violence towards women, a review of the Kaikoura earthquake reveals it generated a tsunami of nearly 7 metres, the most annoying driving habits on Christchurch roads and one half of a champion rowing crew is surprised by the other half's retirement announcement.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... Laila Harre says she is returning to politics to lead the Internet Party because young people, in particular, have been ignored by politicians, Kim Dotcom's US lawyer says a bid by Hollywood's movie studios to have the Internet businessman's assets frozen here is a bid to ensure Mr Dotcom can't win in court in the United States, Fiordland's controversial 240 million dollar monorail is scrapped by the Conservation Minister, documents show WorkSafe New Zealand was still grappling to get on top of asbestos dangers in the Christchurch rebuild nearly two years after the February 2011 earthquake, a train smashes into a concrete barrier at a Lower Hutt station, the New Zealand First leader accuses a South Auckland Maori trust of mis-spending of hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers money, the associate Immigration Minister stands by her decision not to intervene to allow a Fijian man with kidney failure who has since died in Fiji to stay in New Zealand for treatment, a British writer and academic's use of creative writing to help rehabilitate young offenders and sheep on a farm in Queenstown are being covered in a repellent spray to stop them being eaten alive by Kea.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news including... The bill to fix botched EQC repairs from the Canterbury earthquakes is now four times what the previous Government predicted just two years ago, immigrants are being computer profiled, MPs are told that medicinal cannabis should be legalised for more people, Middlemore Hospital's woes continue, the Government orders a compulsory recall of 50 thousand vehicles with faulty airbags, Auckland drivers face a double tax hike under proposed sweeping changes to transport funding, Parliament changes the law so New Zealand men with historical homosexual convictions can have them wiped, a bus company wants to recruit more than 100 drivers from overseas because it can't find enough people to do the job here, Dunedin has its biggest weekend ever in terms of money spent thanks to Ed Sheeran, first it was closing - now it's not, Kaikohe's Warehouse is to stay, it all comes together for the New Zealand cricket team against England, an international consortium reaches a verbal agreement to buy the New Zealand Warriors and the woman who was RNZ's Washington correspondent for more than 20 years has died.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Test results are presented for wall-diaphragm plate anchor connections that were axially loaded to rupture. These connection samples were extracted post-earthquake by sorting through the demolition debris from unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings damaged in the Christchurch earthquakes. Unfortunately the number of samples available for testing was small due to the difficulties associated with sample collection in an environment of continuing aftershocks and extensive demolition activity, when personal safety combined with commercial activity involving large demolition machinery were imperatives that inhibited more extensive sample collection for research purposes. Nevertheless, the presented data is expected to be of assistance to structural engineers undertaking seismic assessment of URM buildings that have existing wall-diaphragm anchor plate connections installed, where it may be necessary to estimate the capacity of the existing connection as an important parameter linked with determining the current seismic capacity of the building and therefore influencing the decision regarding whether supplementary connections should be installed.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes have provided a unique opportunity to investigate the seismic performance of both traditional and modern buildings constructed in New Zealand. It is critical that the observed performance is examined and compared against the expected levels of performance that are outlined by the Building Code and Design Standards. In particular, in recent years there has been a significant amount of research into the seismic behaviour of precast concrete floor systems and the robustness of the support connections as a building deforms during an earthquake. An investigation of precast concrete floor systems in Christchurch has been undertaken to assess both the performance of traditional and current design practice. The observed performance for each type of precast floor unit was collated from a number of post-earthquake recognisance activities and compared against the expected performance determined for previous experimental testing and analysis. Possible reasons for both the observed damage, and in some cases the lack of damage, were identified. This critical review of precast concrete floor systems will assist in determining the success of current design practice as well as identify any areas that require further research and/or changes to design standards.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

As part of the ‘Project Masonry’ Recovery Project funded by the New Zealand Natural Hazards Research Platform, commencing in March 2011, an international team of researchers was deployed to document and interpret the observed earthquake damage to masonry buildings and to churches as a result of the 22nd February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. The study focused on investigating commonly encountered failure patterns and collapse mechanisms. A brief summary of activities undertaken is presented, detailing the observations that were made on the performance of and the deficiencies that contributed to the damage to approximately 650 inspected unreinforced clay brick masonry (URM) buildings, to 90 unreinforced stone masonry buildings, to 342 reinforced concrete masonry (RCM) buildings, to 112 churches in the Canterbury region, and to just under 1100 residential dwellings having external masonry veneer cladding. Also, details are provided of retrofit techniques that were implemented within relevant Christchurch URM buildings prior to the 22nd February earthquake. In addition to presenting a summary of Project Masonry, the broader research activity at the University of Auckland pertaining to the seismic assessment and improvement of unreinforced masonry buildings is outlined. The purpose of this outline is to provide an overview and bibliography of published literature and to communicate on-going research activity that has not yet been reported in a complete form. http://sesoc.org.nz/conference/programme.pdf

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Unreinforced masonry (URM) is a construction type that was commonly adopted in New Zealand between the 1880s and 1930s. URM construction is evidently vulnerable to high magnitude earthquakes, with the most recent New Zealand example being the 22 February 2011 Mw6.3 Christchurch earthquake. This earthquake caused significant damage to a majority of URM buildings in the Canterbury area and resulted in 185 fatalities. Many URM buildings still exist in various parts of New Zealand today, and due to their likely poor seismic performance, earthquake assessment and retrofit of the remaining URM building stock is necessary as these buildings have significant architectural heritage and occupy a significant proportion of the nation’s building stock. A collaborative research programme between the University of Auckland and Reid Construction Systems was conducted to investigate an economical yet effective solution for retrofitting New Zealand’s existing URM building stock. This solution adopts the shotcrete technique using an Engineered Cementitious Composite (ECC), which is a polyvinyl alcohol fibre reinforced mortar that exhibits strain hardening characteristics. Collaborations have been formed with a number of consulting structural engineers throughout New Zealand to develop innovative and cost effective retrofit solutions for a number of buildings. Two such case studies are presented in this paper. http://www.concrete2013.com.au/technical-program/

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

As a result of the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake and the more damaging 22 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake, considerable damage occurred to a significant number of buildings in Christchurch. The damage that occurred to the Christchurch Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament (commonly known as the Christchurch Basilica) as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes is reported, and the observed failure modes are identified. A previous strengthening intervention is outlined and the estimated capacity of the building is discussed. This strengthening was completed in 2004, and addressed the worst aspects of the building's seismic vulnerability. Urgent work was undertaken post-earthquake to secure parts of the building in order to limit damage and prevent collapse of unstable parts of the building. The approach taken for this securing is outlined, and the performance of the building and the previously installed earthquake strengthening intervention is evaluated.A key consideration throughout the project was the interaction between the structural securing requirements that were driven by the requirement to limit damage and mitigate hazards, and the heritage considerations. Lessons learnt from the strengthening that was carried out, the securing work undertaken, and the approach taken in making the building "safe" are discussed. Some conclusions are drawn with respect to the effectiveness of strengthening similar building types, and the approach taken to secure the building under active seismic conditions. AM - Accepted Manuscript

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Catholic Cathedral is classified as a category 1 listed heritage building constructed largely of unreinforced stone masonry, and was significantly damaged in the recent Canterbury earthquakes of 2010 and 2011. In the 2010 event the building presented slight to moderta damage, meanwhile in the 2011 one experienced ground shaking in excess of its capacity leading to block failures and partial collapse of parts of the building, which left the building standing but still posing a significant hazard. In this paper we discuss the approach to develop the earthquake analysis of the building by 3D numerical simulations, and the results are compared/calibrated with the observed damage of the 2010 earthquake. Very accurate records were obtained during both earthquakes due to a record station located least than 80 m of distance from the building and used in the simulations. Moreover it is included in the model the soil structure interaction because it was observed that the ground and foundation played an important role on the seismic behavior of the structure. A very good agreement was found between the real observed damage and the nonlinear dynamic simulations described trough inelastic deformation (cracking) and building´s performance.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Description: Observations of RC building performance in recent earthquakes with a special focus on the devastating events in Christchurch, New Zealand. These events have highlighted the complexity of post-earthquake decisions for damaged buildings and the impacts on communities. The presentation will reflect on factors influencing demolition decisions and emerging challenges for the earthquake engineering community. http://atc-sei.org/

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

This paper explores the responses by a group of children to an art project that was undertaken by a small school in New Zealand after the September 2010 and February 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Undertaken over a period of two years, the project aimed to find a suitable form of memorialising this significant event in a way that was appropriate and meaningful to the community. Alongside images that related directly to the event of the earthquakes, the art form of a mosaic was chosen, and consisted of images and symbols that clearly drew on the hopes and dreams of a school community who were refusing to be defined by the disaster. The paper 'writes' the mosaic by placing fragments of speech spoken by the children involved in relation to ideas about memory, affect, and the 'sublime', through the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard. The paper explores the mosaic as constituted by the literal and metaphorical 'broken pieces' of the city of Christchurch in ways that confer pedagogic value inscribed through the creation of a public art space by children. AM - Accepted Manuscript

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Following a damaging earthquake, the immediate emergency response is focused on individual collapsed buildings or other "hotspots" rather than the overall state of damage. This lack of attention to the global damage condition of the affected region can lead to the reporting of misinformation and generate confusion, causing difficulties when attempting to determine the level of postdisaster resources required. A pre-planned building damage survey based on the transect method is recommended as a simple tool to generate an estimate of the overall level of building damage in a city or region. A methodology for such a transect survey is suggested, and an example of a similar survey conducted in Christchurch, New Zealand, following the 22 February 2011 earthquake is presented. The transect was found to give suitably accurate estimates of building damage at a time when information was keenly sought by government authorities and the general public. VoR - Version of Record

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The majority of current procedures used to deduce liquefaction potential of soils rely on empirical methods. These methods have been proven to work in the past, but these methods are known to overestimate the liquefaction potential in certain regions of Christchurch due to a whole range of factors, and the theoretical basis behind these methods cannot be explained scientifically. Critical state soil mechanics theory was chosen to provide an explanation for the soil's behaviour during the undrained shearing. Soils from two sites in Christchurch were characterised at regular intervals for the critical layers and tested for the critical state lines (CSL). Various models and relationships were then used to predict the CSL and compared with the actual CSL. However none of the methods used managed to predict the CSL accurately, and a separate Christchurch exclusive relationship was proposed. The resultant state parameter values could be obtained from shear-wave velocity plots and were then developed into cyclic resistance ratios (CRR). These were subsequently compared with cyclic stress ratios (CSR) from recent Christchurch earthquakes to obtain the factor of safety. This CSL-based approach was compared with other empirical methods and was shown to yield a favourable relationship with visual observations at the sites' locations following the earthquake.