Earthquake Authority gets wide powers

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A stand-alone government department will be vested with the wide ranging powers the Government gave itself after last year's quake, to oversee recovery efforts in Canterbury.

Quake impact on schooling

Audio, Radio New Zealand

What impact are the earthquakes having on secondary students' education? Lynn Freeman talks to Principal of Avonside Girls High School, Sue Hume, and NZQA Deputy Chief Executive, Bali Haque. We also hear from John Bangma, President of the Canterbury Primary Principals' Association, on how primary students are coping.

Quake-hit Christchurch Residents having to return home

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Canterbury residents are returning to homes damaged in last year's 7.1 earthquake, because they can't afford to live anywhere else.

PGC property manager defends lack of detailed assessment

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission has heard the property manager of the Pyne Gould building did not organise detailed engineering assessments after the first quake in September.

Greens oppose quake authority Bill as too far-reaching

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Parliament is debating under urgency the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill, but the Greens plan to vote against the first reading.

Inquest into 144 Christchurch quake deaths continues

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The inquest into many of the deaths in the Christchurch earthquake will today hear evidence about the more than 60 language students who perished in the Canterbury Television building.

Quake chief happy, despite $200,000 pay cut

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Despite taking a 200-thousand dollar pay cut, the new head of the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority says he's delighted to have the job.

Firsthand quake experience for US PhD student

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A PhD student from the United States who moved to Canterbury to study earthquakes says his firsthand experience in Christchurch has been extremely useful.

Almost six months after quake, some remains unidentified

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Almost six months after the devastating earthquake which killed 181 people in the Canterbury, there are still human remains yet to be identified and buried.

Christchurch council grilled over buildings at quake commission

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Christchurch City Council has faced tough questioning at the Royal Commission into the Canterbury earthquakes over its role in ensuring buildings are earthquake strengthened.

PGC building owner says he did all he could to make it safe

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Pyne Gould building tenants in Christchurch have told the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Canterbury Earthquakes hearing they didn't feel safe there after the September quake.

Optimism for Christchurch quake insurance tribunal

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A Christchurch insurance advocate says the new Canterbury Earthquake Insurance Tribunal may finally be the solution to get unresolved claims from the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes settled. The government has launched an earthquake insurance tribunal to try to finally resolve outstanding insurance claims from the Canterbury earthquakes. Dean Lester, who acts as a insurance claim preparer in Christchurch, told our reporter Rachel Graham the tribunal will have the power to get on and make a decision on the key sticking points, without people facing the huge cost of a high court trial.

What was hiding under a statue in Cathedral Square

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Canterbury Museum says because of the earthquake it's likely to be weeks before they can open a sealed time capsule found under a statue brought down by the quake.

Overseas experts to give evidence at quake inquiry

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquakes continues today, with overseas experts critiquing a New Zealand report that calls for a two-billion dollar upgrade to strengthen earthquake-prone buildings.

Quake references a no-no in this year's NCEA exams

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Earthquakes disrupted schooling in Canterbury this year, but the region's teenagers can rest assured they will not be rattled by unexpected references to quakes in this year's NCEA and Scholarship exams.

GNS questioned on amount of warning given prior to quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The warnings, or lack of them from the government's scientists about the likely size of aftershocks following the first Canterbury earthquake have been a focus of the Royal Commission into the quakes.

Quake hearing told building in use despite yellow placard

Audio, Radio New Zealand

A property manager has been questioned at the Royal Commission investigating the Canterbury earthquakes about why he didn't tell tenants the building they worked in was unsafe.

Breakdown in communication - unsafe building collapsed in quake

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Canterbury Earthquake Royal Commission has heard that a breakdown in communication between structural engineers, a property manager and owner led the tenants of a building to wrongly assume their shop was safe.

Quake Authority sets deadline to speed up city rebuild

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Demolition companies and building owners in central Christchurch hope efforts by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority will speed up the city's rebuild after it's been languishing for weeks.

Man was killed by a falling concrete wall

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Royal Commission investigating the Canterbury earthquakes has heard that the premises where a man was killed by a falling concrete wall was not inspected by structural engineers between the September and February quakes.

Smaller buildings to be quake commission focus this week

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The smaller buildings that collapsed in the Christchurch earthquake, killing those in them as well as passers by, will be the focus of the Canterbury Earthquakes Royal Commission when hearings resume today

New quake safety doubts over police stations, hospitals

Audio, Radio New Zealand

It's been revealed that not a single one of New Zealand's 315 police buildings constructed before 2011 have had a full earthquake safety check. Canterbury's district health buildings and a central Wellington cinema are among other major structures needing checks. Phil Pennington joins us with the details.

The demolition of heritage buildings in Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Concern about the demolition process of heritage buildings in Christchurch. With Anna Crighton - Chairperson of the Canterbury Earthquake Heritage Buildings Fund Trust, which raises money, matched by the government, to save quake-damaged heritage buildings.

Labour says govt cuts will hurt low income earners

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Prime Minister has signalled an election year austerity budget in May because of the Canterbury earthquakes. John Key says the Government needs to cut spending because of quake-related costs and a reduced tax take.

LIM reports in post-quake Christchurch

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Christchurch MPs - Labour's Lianne Dalziel and National's Amy Adams - say it's not fair for seat-of-the-pants post-quake red/yellow and green sticker assessments to be formally recorded forever. They say the assessments were hastily done and inconsistent. But the Christchurch City Council says its required to do so under the provisions of the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act.

Questions over measure used to judge quake resistence

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The Royal Commission into the Canterbury Earthquakes has heard evidence questioning the measure used to judge how resistant a building is to earthquake damage. It's come on the second day of hearings into why unreinforced masonry buildings collapsed in Christchurch during the February 22nd earthquake, killing 40 people.

Family of quake victim call for action over access to Lyttelton

Audio, Radio New Zealand

The family of a man killed while trying to reach his family after the February earthquake in Canterbury wants the Christchurch City Council to ensure people in Lyttelton are not cut off again.

No apology for family of Canterbury quake victim, 10 years on

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Matthew McEachen should have had most of his life ahead of him when he died on February 22, 2011. The 25-year-old was a talented artist and designer, putting his skills to good use at the Southern Ink tattoo shop on Colombo St. But when the earthquake struck, Bruce, Jeanette and Sarah McEachen lost their much-loved son and older brother. Ten years on, Matti's legacy lives on. Checkpoint reporter Nick Truebridge and cameraman Nate McKinnon with his story.

EQC level assessments questioned

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Some Canterbury homeowners say their houses have dropped in value because the damage to their properties was inadequately assessed by the Earthquake Commission after the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. Independent land surveyor, Adrian Cowie, and a Burwood homeowner affected by the quakes, Selwyn Stafford, talk about the issues facing them.

The heightened flood risk for Christchurch after the quakes

Audio, Radio New Zealand

Gerry Brownlee is the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister. Hugo Kristinsson is a South Brighton resident who stood for mayor last year on the issue of flood risk and land damage. David Stringer is the spokesperson for the community lobby group Insurance Watch - which has been seeking answers from the council since 2011 about the flood risk to the city. Nine to Noon speaks with all three about the recent flooding in Christchurch.