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Articles, Christchurch uncovered

When Edward Gibbon Wakefield developed his theory of colonisation in c.1827 (while imprisoned for abducting a young woman) he envisioned for New Zealand the formation of an idealised English rural society, in which all hard-working labourers could aspire to rural … Continue reading →

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

The University of Canterbury is known internationally for the Origins of New Zealand English (ONZE) corpus (see Gordon et al 2004). ONZE is a large collection of recordings from people born between 1851 and 1984, and it has been widely utilised for linguistic and sociolinguistic research on New Zealand English. The ONZE data is varied. The recordings from the Mobile Unit (MU) are interviews and were collected by members of the NZ Broadcasting service shortly after the Second World War, with the aim of recording stories from New Zealanders outside the main city centres. These were supplemented by interview recordings carried out mainly in the 1990s and now contained in the Intermediate Archive (IA). The final ONZE collection, the Canterbury Corpus, is a set of interviews and word-list recordings carried out by students at the University of Canterbury. Across the ONZE corpora, there are different interviewers, different interview styles and a myriad of different topics discussed. In this paper, we introduce a new corpus – the QuakeBox – where these contexts are much more consistent and comparable across speakers. The QuakeBox is a corpus which consists largely of audio and video recordings of monologues about the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes. As such, it represents Canterbury speakers’ very recent ‘danger of death’ experiences (see Labov 2013). In this paper, we outline the creation and structure of the corpus, including the practical issues involved in storing the data and gaining speakers’ informed consent for their audio and video data to be included.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Finance Minister Bill English takes a chain saw to a huge tome that represents the 'NZ Government BUDGET May 2011'. Context - the Government says cutting budget spending is necessary because it is going to have to pay back money borrowed to rebuild Christchurch. The Government will face the biggest budget deficit in New Zealand's history at the end of the current financial year, Finance Minister Bill English says. (NZ Herald 31 March 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A new report says the financial cost of a major earthquake in Wellington would be much bigger than the Canterbury quakes. Opposition parties attack the asset sales plan after Bill English's "it's just a guess" comment and cuts to jobs, services, and profits, hard times at Qantas.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Two businessmen emerge from a building wondering whether 'Bill English' has ''Made any uplifting pronouncements on the economy or budget lately?..' On the footpath outside is Finance Minister Bill English wearing a sandwich board that reads 'the end is nigh' and carrying a banner that reads 'We're doomed'. Context - the impact of an already struggling economy of the Christchurch earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Audio, Radio New Zealand

As a three-year-old in China, Quin Tang's mother was shot in front of her and her father taken away. After moving to Christchurch 25 years ago, she walked out of an abusive marriage with two young children, no money and speaking little English. Tang then attended Canterbury University, teaching herself to read English from the text books there. She attained four degrees with an A+ average, and began working as a psychiatrist and counsellor. Quin was working in the CTV building when it collapsed. She took two weeks off work to recover, then came back and began counselling other victims of the Christchurch earthquakes. She has written and self-published the story of her life, called Half a Walnut Tree.

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

The cartoon is entitled 'seismic upheaval'. Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English stand near great seismic cracks in the ground and stare sadly at a huge wallet, 'Bill's boodle', belonging to Bill English. Vast quantities of banknotes spill out of the cash pocket in the wallet which also contains a 'travel card', a 'house card' and an 'expenses card'. The various cards in the wallet refer to expense account embarrassments relating to Bill English. Etched in the ground are the words 'Christchurch quake' and 'South Canterbury Finance'. The cartoon refers to two major events in the Canterbury area in recent times that have incurred huge government costs; these are the collapse of the South Canterbury Finance Company and the earthquake that struck early Saturday morning 4th September. The South Canterbury Finance Company has been taken into receivership by the government which has guaranteed that all 30,000 fortunate high-risk investors will be paid out $1.6b thanks to the taxpayer. Treasury is assuming that the cost of the earthquake will reach $4 billion, including $2 billion worth of estimated damage to private dwellings and their contents, $1 billion of damage to commercial property, and $1 billion worth of damage to public infrastructure. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Images, Canterbury Museum

One white painted conductor's baton with wand made of balsa wood and handle from lime tree wood. Green holly leaf maker's mark on wand near handle indicates it was made by English baton maker Mr Hollyoak. Baton was used by Sir Malcolm Sargent and gifted to the Christchurch following the 22 February 2011 earthquake. This conductor's baton was ma...

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Shows a postman who has just put an 'Earthquake bill' for '$8.5 billion' into the government's letterbox. Context - The New Zealand government will spend about 8.5 billion NZ dollars (6.6 billion U.S. dollars) over the next few years rebuilding Christchurch. New Zealand Finance Minister Bill English said on Tuesday that the Treasury has estimated the direct cost of the two earthquakes is about 5.5 billion NZ dollars), which will be fully provided for in the Budget in May. He said about 3 billion NZ dollars of that relates to thegovernment's share of local government infrastructure, roads, insurance excesses on schools and housing, land remediation from the September quake, demolition, Accidents Compensation Corporation scheme and the business support package. (Xinhuanet 12 April 2011) Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

A policeman stops a queue of politicians at a checkpoint in Christchurch saying 'Sorry, no politics past this point'. In the queue are Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Finance Bill English carrying a ledger, leader of ACT Rodney Hide wearing his yellow jacket and carrying an axe and a saw and lastly leader of the Labour Party Phil Goff. Context - the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011 and the danger of political point-scoring rather than serious co-operative work to rebuild Christchurch. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A report into why Statistics House failed in the November earthquake has revealed a design flaw in the building, and the Government says all buildings nationwide like Statistics House will now need checking. Christchurch man Jeremy Teaguea wants to overturn the law making wearing a bike helment compulsory. Former cyclone Debbie will make her presence felt here over the next week. Weatherman Richard Green tells us what to expect. Going up for Labour and a downward turn in the polls for National. Is it really because of Jacinda Ardern and Bill English?

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Topics - The Gettysburg address, the short speech given by Abraham Lincoln 150 years ago today, the finest short speech in the English language, and one of the great political utterances of all time. A strong earthquake that hit Christchurch last night has been upgraded by GNS Science to a magnitude 4.6. It was also shallower than first believed, with GNS reporting it was 8km deep rather than 11km. Wallabies rugby coach Ewen McKenzie has made no apologies for suspending six of his players in what's been described as "a hard-line move designed to set the standards required to win the 2015 World Cup".

Images, Alexander Turnbull Library

Text reads 'Collateral damage'. A couple stand looking at a broken column surrounded by fallen masonry; text on the column reads 'Curbs on govt spending'. The man says 'It's a shame. It was due to be unveiled in a few weeks'. Context - the Christchurch earthquake of 22 February 2011; curbs on government spending can be seen as 'collateral damage'. In December 2010 Finance Minister Bill English pledged to keep a cap on spending to rein in a widening deficit as slower consumer demand hinders the economic recovery and hurts tax receipts. The earthquake will make economic recovery even more difficult. Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).