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Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Maori King has called a national hui for iwi and hapu to discuss water rights after the government refused to call one; A member of the Iwi Chairs Forum says it might be time for the Maori Council to step aside from the water rights debate; The Whanganui River Maori Trust Board says it's satisfied with how its Treaty of Waitangi negotiations with the Crown are progressing, saying the Government's taking into account the iwi's unique circumstances; A Maori broadcaster who was living in Christchurch during many of the earthquakes says she tried hard to put whanau at ease while she was on-air, but admits it was tough remaining calm during the many aftershocks.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Maori King has called a national hui for iwi and hapu to discuss water rights after the government refused to call one; A member of the Iwi Chairs Forum says it might be time for the Maori Council to step aside from the water rights debate; The Whanganui River Maori Trust Board says it's satisfied with how its Treaty of Waitangi negotiations with the Crown are progressing, saying the Government's taking into account the iwi's unique circumstances; A Maori broadcaster who was living in Christchurch during many of the earthquakes says she tried hard to put whanau at ease while she was on-air, but admits it was tough remaining calm during the many aftershocks.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Members of a King Country iwi occupying one of the Crafar farms near Benneydale say they fear the Government may offer them back Landcorp farms, which have absolutely no connection to the iwi; The Chairman of Bay of Plenty's Economic Development organisation wants to see concrete results in two to three years, from a strategy which aims to develop Maori assets in the region; The Minister of Maori Affairs, Dr Pita Sharples, says he pushed to have a Maori presence at the Rugby World Cup - because tangata whenua didn't even get a look in during the America's Cup in 2000; Almost a year since the Christchurch earthquake, the Nagi Tahui leader is urging locals to continue sticking together.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Devonport-Takapuna Local Board in Auckland wants Parliament to amend a Treaty Settlement Bill for Ngati Whatua o Orakei, to exclude what's called the Tamaki block of just over three hectares of land at Narrow Neck; Taranaki Maori are being called to a Treaty Update hui this weekend - to keep abreast of tribal claims against the Crown; Maori Wardens have fronted up to a researcher looking at how the Christchurch earthquake has affected emergency workers; The winner of the Golden Shears Open Women's Title for 2012 says she's keen to keep competiting for a few more years yet and hopes she can inspire more wool handlers to get to her level and to prove that it is achievable.

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.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

The sign for Perry's Cafe has had "Shaken but not deterred" added under the name of the cafe. One of the iconic figures of two workmen painted on the side of the building, which have regularly-changed speech bubbles commenting humorously on topical subjects, are saying "Is my crack showing?" The paint has peeled from the other speech bubble, obscuring the reply. The photographer comments, "After the numerous earthquakes in Christchurch a lot of buildings were damaged and made off limits. This affected a lot of cafes and take aways, so if you were open you needed to make it known. The words missing from the speech bubble are 'Don't be silly'".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digitally manipulated image of the high diving boards at QEII swimming pool. Rubble has fallen on the boards during the demolition of the complex. A sign reads "Poseidon Extreme". The photographer comments, "I do not know what Poseidon Extreme at this swimming pool looked like before the earthquake damaged it, but it looks really radical now during it's demolition. A strange coincidence is that Poseidon is referred to as 'Earth-Shaker' due to his role in causing earthquakes. So the demolition of this pool due to the series of quakes in Christchurch all seems to be foretold by the gods and that sign".

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Members of a King Country iwi occupying one of the Crafar farms near Benneydale say they fear the Government may offer them back Landcorp farms, which have absolutely no connection to the iwi; The Minister of Maori Affairs, Dr Pita Sharples, says he pushed to have a Maori presence at the Rugby World Cup - because tangata whenua didn't even get a look in during the America's Cup in 2000; The Chairman of Bay of Plenty's Economic Development organisation wants to see concrete results in two to three years, from a strategy which aims to develop Maori assets in the region; and Almost a year since the Christchurch earthquake, the Nagi Tahui leader is urging locals to continue sticking together.

Research papers, Lincoln University

The September and February earthquakes were terrifying and devastating. In February, 185 people were killed (this number excludes post earthquake related deaths) and several thousand injured. Damage to infrastructure above and below ground in and around Christchurch was widespread and it will take many years and billions of dollars to rebuild. The ongoing effects of the big quakes and aftershocks are numerous, with the deepest impact being on those who lost family and friends, their livelihoods and homes. What did Cantabrians do during the days, weeks and months of uncertainty and how have we responded? Many grieved, some left, some stayed, some arrived, many shovelled (liquefaction left thousands of tons of silt to be removed from homes and streets), and some used their expertise or knowledge to help in the recovery. This book highlights just some of the projects staff and students from The Faculty of Environment, Society and Design have been involved in from September 2010 to October 2012. The work is ongoing and the plan is to publish another book to document progress and new projects.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

In 2010 and 2011, Aotearoa New Zealand was hit by a number of major disasters involving loss of human life and severe disruption to social, ecological and economic wellbeing. The Pike River mine explosions were closely followed by a sequence of major earthquakes in Christchurch, seismic events that have permanently altered the lives of thousands of people in our third largest city, the closure of the central business district and the effective abandonment of whole residential areas. In early October 2011, the ship, Rena, grounded on a reef off the port of Tauranga and threatened a major oil spill throughout the Bay of Plenty, where local communities with spiritual and cultural connections to the land depend on sea food as well as thrive on tourism. The Council for Social Work Education Aotearoa New Zealand (CSWEANZ), representing all the Schools of Social Work in New Zealand, held a ‘Disaster Curriculum’ day in November 2011, at which social workers and Civil Defence leaders involved in the Christchurch earthquakes, the Rena Disaster, Fiji floods and the Boxing Day tsunami presented their narrative experience of disaster response and recovery. Workshops discussed and identified core elements that participants considered vital to a social work curriculum that would enable social work graduates in a range of community and cultural settings to respond in safe, creative and informed ways. We present our core ideas for a social work disaster curriculum and consider a wide range of educational content based on existing knowledge bases and new content within a disaster framework. http://www.swsd-stockholm-2012.org/

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The current study examined the psychological effects of recurring earthquake aftershocks in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, which began in September 2010. Although it has been identified that exposure to ongoing adverse events such as continuing terrorist attacks generally leads to the development of increasing symptomology over time, differences in perceived controllability and blame between man-made and natural adverse events may contribute to differences in symptom trajectories. Residents of two Christchurch suburbs differentially affected by the earthquakes (N = 128) were assessed on measures of acute stress disorder, generalised anxiety, and depression, at two time points approximately 4-5 months apart, in order to determine whether symptoms intensified or declined over time in the face of ongoing aftershocks. At time 1, clinically significant levels of acute stress were identified in both suburbs, whereas clinical elevations in depression and anxiety were only evident in the most affected suburb. By time 2, both suburbs had fallen below the clinical range on all three symptom types, identifying a pattern of habituation to the aftershocks. Acute stress symptoms at time 2 were the most highly associated with the aftershocks, compared to symptoms of generalised anxiety and depression which were identified by participant reports to be more likely associated with other earthquake-related factors, such as insurance troubles and less frequent socialisation. The finding that exposure to ongoing earthquake aftershocks leads to a decline in symptoms over time may have important implications for the assessment of traumatic stress-related disorders, and provision of services following natural, as compared to man-made, adverse events.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A member of the Iwi Chairs Forum says right now iwi and hapu with interests in water that is used by Mighty River Power should talk directly with the government; A constitutional Advisory Panel member, Professor Ranginui Walker, says many Maori are worried the Treaty of Waitangi could one day be forgotten; A former Christchurch woman says she's still overwhelmed by the aroha and support shown, not only by Maori organisations, but also the general public, since the first earthquake hit Canterbury two years ago today; An Auckland hapu which has recently settled its Treaty of Waitangi claim with the Crown is planning to create new educational opportunities for young Maori; An Auckland hapu which has recently settled its Treaty of Waitangi claim with the Crown is planning to create new educational opportunities for young Maori.

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.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A digitally manipulated image of the Gap Filler Monopoly board square on Manchester Street. The photographer comments, "On the site of a demolished earthquake damaged building in Christchurch, New Zealand is a Monopoly game square for giants. The Gap Filler Project makes the bare land where once a building once stood into something both interesting and unique and this time they created a massive Monopoly board square. In the game of Monopoly you move your player with a dog, shoe or maybe the hat, but as the most common thing in the City are diggers they have the placed one on the square. There are also two houses on Manchester Street, which is priced at $240".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Part of Mike Hewson's installation 'Homage To Lost Spaces' in the Cramner Courts building, a photograph of a young man working at a desk has been inserted into a gap in the building. The photographer comments, "Cranmer Courts in Christchurch, New Zealand was very badly damaged in the earthquakes that have rocked the City for the past two years. Mike Hewson thought he would try to bring life back into the buildings by putting photographs into the spaces where the doors and windows were. There was a month or so when no one seemed to know or admit who had put the pictures up, but it was done officially. It seems that though very badly damaged the buildings may get restored".

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Darfield earthquake caused widespread damage in the Canterbury region of New Zealand, with the majority of damage resulting from liquefaction and lateral spreading. One of the worst hit locations was the small town of Kaiapoi north of Christchurch, an area that has experienced liquefaction during past events and has been identified as highly susceptible to liquefaction. The low lying town sits on the banks of the Kaiapoi River, once a branch of the Waimakariri, a large braided river transporting gravelly sediment. The Waimakariri has been extensively modified both by natural and human processes, consequently many areas in and around the town were once former river channels.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: What recent reports has he received on the Government’s financial position? Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement that “if you go and have a look at the tax cuts, they literally were neutral” and, if so, what is the projected net cost of the first four years of the 2010 tax package? DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in all his Ministers? Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Associate Minister of Health: How will young New Zealanders receive better mental health services under the new Government package announced by the Prime Minister today? Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister for Land Information: Has he or any other Minister this week sought further information on Shanghai Pengxin’s application for his approval to buy the Crafar farms, and if so, is it coincidence or purpose that this will further delay his decision on the application? NIKKI KAYE to the Minister of Education: What initiatives is she introducing to help schools tackle youth mental health? JULIE ANNE GENTER to the Minister of Transport: Has the Government reviewed its highway building programme in light of the warning in the briefing to the incoming Minister that there will be a $4.9 billion funding shortfall if oil prices remain high and economic growth remains low; if not, why not? CHARLES CHAUVEL to the Minister of Justice: Does she stand by all the answers she has given to questions asked of her to date? NICKY WAGNER to the Minister for Economic Development: What action has the Government taken to contribute to the recovery of high-tech businesses in Christchurch? Hon LIANNE DALZIEL to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: When will he approve a Recovery Plan for Christchurch’s CBD in light of the Christchurch City Council’s announcement that it will commence its Annual Plan processes next week? Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Overseas Investment Office and his Ministers, Hon Jonathan Coleman and Hon Maurice Williamson over the issue of the latest Crafar farms deal; if so, why? CLARE CURRAN to the Prime Minister: What did he mean when he told the NZ Herald and other media last week that “We are comfortable with the current arrangements we have” with regards to Chinese telco Huawei’s involvement in our national broadband infrastructure, given that Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard also said last week that “We’ve taken a decision in the national interest” to ban Huawei from even tendering for its broadband network? Questions to Members Hon DAVID PARKER to the Chairperson of the Finance and Expenditure Committee: Is it his intention to call the Treasury to appear before the committee to comment on the Report from the Controller and Auditor-General on The Treasury: Implementing and managing the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme; if not, why not?  

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The paper discusses modelling of cyclic stress-strain behaviour of soil, in particular a simple model that can produce a desired stiffness and hysteretic damping for a given strain level as observed in laboratory testing is formulated. The unloading-reloading relationship is developed for total stress seismic site response analysis with appropriate damping at large strain. The constitutive model employs a hyperbolic equation as the backbone curve, and uses a modification of the extended Masing unloading-reloading relationship leading to correct measured modulus reduction and damping curves simultaneously. A quasi-static cyclic loading of increasing amplitude is used to demonstrate the model’s performance and its capability to allow improved modelling of the magnitude of energy dissipation based on an experimental program on native sandy soils from Christchurch, New Zealand.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

20120321_2397_1D3-47 Beachcomber Dairy Corner of New Brighton Road and Rawson Street, New Brighton. This diary is inside the suburban red zone and will probably be demolished some time in the future. See how the earthquakes have moved the footpath - the post and phone box used to stand straight! This is one of the Teleccom Wi-Fi hotspot boo...

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Hon NANAIA MAHUTA to the Minister of Education: Is it still her strategy in education to "focus on teaching and learning quality" and "transparent accountabilities"? MAGGIE BARRY to the Minister of Finance: What progress is the Government making in supporting jobs and economic growth? EUGENIE SAGE to the Minister for the Environment: Does she stand by her statement that, "My preference will always be for all our sites to be safe for swimming"? CHARLES CHAUVEL to the Attorney-General: Who, other than himself and the Prime Minister, was present at the discussion on the Government Communications Security Bureau's unlawful surveillance of Mr Dotcom? NICKY WAGNER to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: What reports has he received on the outlook for increased employment opportunities in the rebuilding of Greater Christchurch? Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Prime Minister: Does he think it is important that his Ministers, including himself, come to the House prepared to give honest answers? DARIEN FENTON to the Minister of Labour: How will employers know whether a job applicant aged 18 or 19 has been receiving a benefit for 6 months or more in order to pay the Government's starting-out wage? TIM MACINDOE to the Minister for Social Development: What announcements has she made on the new Children's Teams which form part of the Government's White Paper for Vulnerable Children? Dr DAVID CLARK to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his comment that Government computer systems "can't actually support radical changes from Government"? Hon TAU HENARE to the Minister of Customs: How successful has SmartGate technology been at processing passengers at the border? CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: How long will boards of trustees of the schools she proposes to close or merge in Christchurch have to consult with their local communities before they are required to provide feedback to her ahead of a final decision? CATHERINE DELAHUNTY to the Minister of Education: Does she stand by her statement to schools, about their obligation under the Official Information Act 1982, that, "New Zealand is an open and transparent democracy. They [schools] are required to release this information. You are public entities."?

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: Does he accept the BNZ statement that New Zealand’s increasing current account is “a very clear risk for New Zealand’s credit rating with Standard and Poor’s”? SHANE ARDERN to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on the economy? KEVIN HAGUE to the Minister for ACC: Can she confirm that staff in ACC’s Recovery Independence Service teams receive more or less remuneration dependent on whether the proportion of people receiving weekly compensation is less or more than specified duration targets? Hon DAVID CUNLIFFE to the Minister for Economic Development: Does he stand by all his recent statements? JAMI-LEE ROSS to the Minister of Police: What actions has the Government taken against illegal street racers? Hon MARYAN STREET to the Minister of Health: Has he received any reports or correspondence regarding the Community Pharmacy Services Agreement with District Health Boards and if he has, have they caused him any concern? TIM MACINDOE to the Minister of Justice: How is the Justice sector contributing to the Government’s better public services programme? GARETH HUGHES to the Minister for Climate Change Issues: Does he agree with the statement made by the Minister for the Environment, Hon Amy Adams in Rio, that, “Money spent on fossil fuels is money that could be spent on other sustainable development priorities”, and will the Government re-allocate the $889 million for ETS credits in Budget 2012 towards sustainable projects and a green economy? MIKE SABIN to the Minister of Immigration: What reports has he received on the benefits to New Zealand of the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme? KRIS FAAFOI to the Minister of Police: Does she stand by all the statements she made to the Law and Order Committee yesterday? NICKY WAGNER to the Minister for Courts: What recent announcements has he made regarding court services for Christchurch? DENIS O'ROURKE to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he still believe that the best way to deal with the price increase in home rentals in Christchurch is to leave it to the market?

Audio, Radio New Zealand

TODD McCLAY to the Minister of Finance: What reports has he received on progress in building a faster-growing economy? GRANT ROBERTSON to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in his Ministers; if so, why? Dr PAUL HUTCHISON to the Minister of Health: What progress can he report on the numbers of patients receiving elective surgery? JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: Does she stand by her answer to oral questions on Tuesday that "There is in New Zealand no actual poverty line" and "I do not see the measurement as a priority"? Dr RUSSEL NORMAN to the Prime Minister: Does he agree with the statement made by the Hon Bill English, in relation to the release of Natasha Fuller's private details by his Social Development Minister, that, "People who enter into public debate are welcome to do so … and should provide their full information to the public"? CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister of Broadcasting: What percentage of households in Hawkes Bay and on the West Coast of the South Island have gone digital ahead of the digital switchover in these regions on 30 September? CHARLES CHAUVEL to the Minister of Justice: What assistance will be available to families unable to afford the fee of over $900 she proposes to introduce in order to access the new Family Dispute Resolution Service? JOHN HAYES to the Minister for Courts: In light of the opening of the temporary courthouse in Masterton last week, what is the range of services that courts can now offer in Masterton? DENIS O'ROURKE to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Was restoration of the Christchurch Cathedral included in the Christchurch Central City Recovery Plan; if not, why not? SUE MORONEY to the Minister of Women's Affairs: Is she satisfied with the action this Government has taken to improve the lives of women in New Zealand? JAN LOGIE to the Minister for Social Development: Is she concerned that Wellington Rape Crisis is shutting its doors one day a week because of funding shortfalls? IAIN LEES-GALLOWAY to the Minister of Transport: Which commuter rail services, if any, do not receive funding from the New Zealand Transport Agency?

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The sequence of earthquakes that has affected Christchurch and Canterbury since September 2010 has caused damage to a great number of buildings of all construction types. Following post-event damage surveys performed between April 2011 and June 2011, the damage suffered by unreinforced stone masonry buildings is reported and different types of observed failures are described. A detailed technical description of the most prevalently observed failure mechanisms is provided, with reference to recognised failure modes for unreinforced masonry structures. The observed performance of existing seismic retrofit interventions is also provided, as an understanding of the seismic response of these interventions is of fundamental importance for assessing the vulnerability of similar strengthening techniques when applied to unreinforced stone masonry structures.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

A preliminary case study assessing the seismic sustainability of two reinforced concrete structures, a frame structure and a wall structure, was conducted to determine which structural system is more seismically sustainable. The two structures were designed to the same standards and were assumed to be located in Christchurch, New Zealand. A component-based probabilistic seismic loss assessment, considering direct losses only, was conducted for two ground motion records, regarded to approximately represent a 1 in 500 year earthquake event and a 1 in 2500 year earthquake event, respectively. It is shown that the wall structure results in lower direct losses than the frame structure in the less severe ground motion scenario. However, in the more severe ground motion scenario, the frame structure results in lower direct losses. Hence, this study demonstrates that which structural system has the lower direct losses depends on the ground motion intensity level.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Depending on their nature and severity, disasters can create large volumes of debris and waste. Waste volumes from a single event can be the equivalent of many times the annual waste generation rate of the affected community. These volumes can overwhelm existing solid waste management facilities and personnel. Mismanagement of disaster waste can affect both the response and long term recovery of a disaster affected area. Previous research into disaster waste management has been either context specific or event specific, making it difficult to transfer lessons from one disaster event to another. The aim of this research is to develop a systems understanding of disaster waste management and in turn develop context- and disaster-transferrable decision-making guidance for emergency and waste managers. To research this complex and multi-disciplinary problem, a multi-hazard, multi-context, multi-case study approach was adopted. The research focussed on five major disaster events: 2011 Christchurch earthquake, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, 2009 Samoan tsunami, 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and 2005 Hurricane Katrina. The first stage of the analysis involved the development of a set of ‘disaster & disaster waste’ impact indicators. The indicators demonstrate a method by which disaster managers, planners and researchers can simplify the very large spectra of possible disaster impacts, into some key decision-drivers which will likely influence post-disaster management requirements. The second stage of the research was to develop a set of criteria to represent the desirable environmental, economic, social and recovery effects of a successful disaster waste management system. These criteria were used to assess the effectiveness of the disaster waste management approaches for the case studies. The third stage of the research was the cross-case analysis. Six main elements of disaster waste management systems were identified and analysed. These were: strategic management, funding mechanisms, operational management, environmental and human health risk management, and legislation and regulation. Within each of these system elements, key decision-making guidance (linked to the ‘disaster & disaster waste’ indicators) and management principles were developed. The ‘disaster & disaster waste’ impact indicators, the effects assessment criteria and management principles have all been developed so that they can be practically applied to disaster waste management planning and response in the future.

Research papers, Victoria University of Wellington

The whare whakairo or traditional Māori meeting house plays an important part in Māori society and identity. These whare tell the tale of their origin, and in so doing, the origins of their people. The analysis of the meeting house, the histories expressed in its decorative carvings and structural elements are inextricably linked with and dependent upon the structure of the world created by myth and the Māori worldview. However, due to the deleterious effects of colonisation, the art of wood carving and associated architectural practices - central to Māori identity, suffered decline in many parts of the country, leading to the decline of Māori culture and identity. Sir Apirana Ngata instigated the National Institute of Māori Arts and Crafts to resurrect the dying art of Māori carving and carved houses would be a catalyst for the restoration of Māori culture throughout the country. Ngata saw these whare whakairo as being the heart of Māori communities by establishing a renewed sense of belonging and identification with space for Māori, through the telling of tribal histories and emphasising key geographical features. New threats in the form of global hegemony and urbanisation have further impacted on Māori notions of identity, creating a generation of displaced urban Māori youth. This research proposes to establish an architectural response to capture displaced Māori youth through the resurrection of the Māori carving school and return to them the lost stories of their cultural history and identity. This program will be developed within the complex challenges that exist within post-earthquake Ōtautahi/Christchurch, where many have lost homes and livelihoods, especially Māori youth in the Eastern Suburbs. The building elements of the proposed Māori carving school give reference to the historio-cultural features of the original Ōtautahi/Christchurch landscape that are situated in tribal song and myth. It is envisioned that the development of a Māori carving school will help restore Māori identity and a renewed sense of belonging, and allow for the telling of this generations stories through traditional narratives.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A review of the week's news, including... Maori across the country accepting a challenge set by the Maori King to battle the Government over water rights, the Government says Labour's new education policies are flawed, expensive and unnecessary while it's being accused of exploiting the Christchurch earthquakes to force through sweeping changes to schools in the city, Tuhoe is to get 170-million dollars in compensation and more control over Te Urewera National Park in its settlement with the Crown for historical grievances, hundreds of angry and stunned paper mill workers in Kawerau are in limbo over how many will lose their jobs with Norske Skog announcing its halving production, the shotputter Valerie Adams will receive her gold medal in a public ceremony in Auckland on Wednesday, details from of the police investigation into John Bank's mayoral campaign donations have been made public, a man who helped his chronically ill wife commit suicide has broken down in tears after being discharged without conviction and Invercargill has rolled out the red carpet in style, hosting the world premiere of New Zealand's latest feature film.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A poster advertising performers Maryrose Crook, Purple Pilgrims and Thje. The photographer comments, "Maryrose Crook, Purple Pilgrims, Thje. Saturday 26 Feb (2011). HSP 9PM $5. HSP stands for High Street Project. Here is the introduction for her concert 'Maryrose Crook's spectral voice and calenture tunes float through New Zealand giants, The Renderers' psychic country-punk and splatter rock, and emerge in her solo encounters with horripilated grace and filigree menace. Purple pilgrims' wraithish hymns evolve through a braided field of curled nautical drone and distant littoral roar, abstract thrums and change-rung celestial rustle'. She was supposed to perform on 26 February, but I am guessing the concert was cancelled due to the major earthquake in Christchurch on the 22nd. The horrendous quake made the venue at 84 Lichfield Street out of limits due to it being in the dangerous earthquake red zone. It looks like she next performed on the 17 May at the Loons in Lyttelton".

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Utility managers are always looking for appropriate tools to estimate seismic damage in wastewater networks located in earthquake prone areas. Fragility curves, as an appropriate tool, are recommended for seismic vulnerability analysis of buried pipelines, including pressurised and unpressurised networks. Fragility curves are developed in pressurised networks mainly for water networks. Fragility curves are also recommended for seismic analysis in unpressurised networks. Applying fragility curves in unpressurised networks affects accuracy of seismic damage estimation. This study shows limitations of these curves in unpressurised networks. Multiple case study analysis was applied to demonstrate the limitations of the application of fragility curves in unpressurised networks in New Zealand. Four wastewater networks within New Zealand were selected as case studies and various fragility curves used for seismic damage estimation. Observed damage in unpressurised networks after the 2007 earthquake in Gisborne and the 2010 earthquake in Christchurch demonstrate the appropriateness of the applied fragility curves to New Zealand wastewater networks. This study shows that the application of fragility curves, which are developed from pressurised networks, cannot be accurately used for seismic damage assessment in unpressurised wastewater networks. This study demonstrated the effects of different parameters on seismic damage vulnerability of unpressurised networks.