Ports of Auckland says incidents such as the strikes which crippled its operations and the Canterbury earthquakes which disrupted the Port of Lyttelton's operations shows New Zealand needs a resilient port sector.
This week marked the 4th anniversary of the Christchurch and Canterbury earthquake. New research from the University of Otago in Christchurch with earthquake survivors is shedding some light on the question of what makes some people cope better with trauma than others. A group of psychiatrists and psychologists from the University have been studying a group of more than 100 Cantabrians exposed to high levels of stress during the earthquakes who coped well. They compared this group against a group of patients with post-earthquake trauma, being treated by the Adult Specialist Services Earthquake Treatment Team, or ASSETT, set up by the Canterbury DHB. Dr Gini McIntosh from the Otago University is part of the research team, and one of the psychologists with ASSETT.
The front page graphic from the Go section of The Press, with a page banner promoting an article about Christchurch's resilient spirit.
A video of a conversation between John Hamilton, National Controller of the Civil Defence Emergency Response, and Dr Sonia Giovinazzi, Research Fellow at the Department of Civil and Natural Resource Engineering at the University of Canterbury. Hamilton and Giovinazzi discuss the Civil Defence's response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake and the lessons that they learned.The video includes footage from the Ministry of Civil Defence (licenced under Creative Commons Attribute 3.0 New Zealand).
PAUL GOLDSMITH to the Minister of Finance: What steps is the Government taking to support new jobs and build a productive and competitive economy? Rt Hon WINSTON PETERS to the Minister responsible for the GCSB: Specifically, have there been staff issues associated with the Government Communications Security Bureau and Dotcom affair brought to his attention by the Government Communications Security Bureau or members of the New Zealand Police, in which such staff members no longer work in their previous capacity for the Government Communications Security Bureau or any government agency; if so, what were the circumstances? DAVID SHEARER to the Prime Minister: Further to his answers to the first supplementary question to Oral Question No 1 on 26 September and the first supplementary question to Oral Question No 1 yesterday, does he now know on what date the Government Communications Security Bureau was first told that its surveillance of Kim Dotcom was illegal? ALFRED NGARO to the Minister for Social Development: What recent announcements has she made regarding providing extra financial assistance to grandparents raising grandchildren and other kin-carers? Hon DAVID PARKER to the Minister of Finance: When he said yesterday that with a "relatively high" exchange rate, our exporters "have been sufficiently resilient to be able to grow export volumes and value" did he mean that all export sectors have been growing, and according to Statistics New Zealand, in 2008 dollars what is the percentage change in exports of simply and elaborately transformed manufactured goods from the 2008 to 2012 financial years? METIRIA TUREI to the Prime Minister: Does he stand by his statement, in response to a question about whether he will support my Income Tax (Universalisation of In-work Tax Credit) Amendment Bill that "she wants to give the same millionaires yet more money to raise their kids"? SHANE ARDERN to the Minister for Primary Industries: What progress can he report on the Primary Growth Partnership Initiative? JACINDA ARDERN to the Minister for Social Development: What vulnerabilities were identified in the report prepared by Dimension Data on the security of the Work and Income kiosks? Dr JACKIE BLUE to the Minister of Health: What reports has he received on improving the quality and efficiency of health services? TE URUROA FLAVELL to the Minister of Broadcasting: How does he ensure that the legislative requirement for TVNZ to provide high-quality content that reflects Māori perspectives is reflected in the programming strategy for TV1 and TV2? CHRIS HIPKINS to the Minister of Education: Is she confident that the information she relied upon in deciding on proposals for school closures and mergers in Christchurch was robust and reliable; if so, why? CHRIS AUCHINVOLE to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: What reports has he received on the availability of insurance cover to support the rebuilding of Canterbury following the seismic events?
American social-psychologist Tara Powell on the challenges of building confidence in children who have been traumatised by a natural disaster, such as Hurricane Katrina or the Christchurch earthquake.
The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard the earthquake resilience of stairways in the Forsyth Barr building was compromised when they were installed.
Politicians have praised the courage and resilience shown by Canterbury residents following Saturday's earthquake. MPs from all the parties in Parliament had an opportunity to address the House this afternoon.
The New Zealand Shipping Federation says the government needs to take the resilience of ports seriously as the Kaikoura earthquake has shown the vulnerability of roading - and consider what their role is when auditing them. Annabel Young is the Executive Director of the NZ Shipping Federation. Canterbury University Professor of Geological Sciences Tim Davies, says improving and increasing the transport network through coastal shipping is essential.
Resilience and community spirit have shone through in North Canterbury in the aftermath of the earthquake. With no active civil defence post in operation in Cheviot in the days after the 7.8 quake, a group of locals mobilised a task force to support those in need. Further north at Mendip Hills Station farm manager Simon Lee has been repairing broken water pipes and clearing slips in time for weaning, while on Ben Lissington's dairy farm near Waiau, milk tankers are having to go off the beaten track to get to the rotary shed after a six metre section of the road was destroyed.
Base isolation has generally been considered an expensive system used mainly in commercial buildings to make them more earthquake resilient. Katy Gosset meets the University of Canterbury engineers who've developed a safe, low cost model that could work in our homes.
A new council report into Wellington's resilience has found the city's economy would take a $37 billion hit if it experienced an event like the Christchurch earthquake. Old people stand accused of displacing more than 40,000 teenagers from jobs over the past five years, as more of them choose to stay in the workforce and employers choose experience over youth.
Canadian expert on the development of healthy communities in British Columbia is in New Zealand to explore possibilities for contributing to the rebuilding of a resilient Christchurch following the earthquake and aftershocks.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 23 July 2013 entitled, "Empathy over Earthquakes".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 1 March 2011 entitled, "Day 8, 5am - inside the Christchurch cordon".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 26 February 2011 entitled, "Shaken City".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 14 December 2010 entitled, "Novel Nativity".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 March 2011 entitled, "Day 9, 5pm - inside the Christchurch cordon".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 13 September 2010 entitled, "A Week of Wonders".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 6 November 2010 entitled, "Kilmore Cupcakes".
A pdf transcript of Rae Willis's earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox project.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 3 June 2012 entitled, "Reduced Resilience".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 27 May 2012 entitled, "Dramatic Demolition and May Music".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 19 November 2012 entitled, "Back at Bailies".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 4 October 2012 entitled, "Lovely Lotus".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 30 June 2012 entitled, "Bravo Ballantynes!".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 3 October 2012 entitled, "Hopeful Hotel".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 13 August 2012 entitled, "Brisk Business at Briscoes".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 2 September 2012 entitled, "Lingering in Lyttelton".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 12 September 2012 entitled, "Survive and thrive".