In today’s, Sunday-Star Times, Rob Stock picks up on a topic I’ve been writing about: “THE EARTHQUAKE has exposed a policy that must be changed immediately – the way the Earthquake Commission is funded.Significant numbers of people will get nothing from the commission because it is funded by a levy on house insurance.”
The Government has announced it intends to push through emergency legislation to expedite the rebuilding of Christchurch. The urge to put things back the way they were is only natural in the wake of a huge physical and psychic shock but shouldn’t we have a think about how we want Christchurch rebuilt before we let anyone go ahead willy-nilly?
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The Napier Earthquake led to the earthquake-resistant building standards that have proven so valuable in Christchurch. The EQC was founded after the Wairarapa Earthquake. World War 2 and the threat of air raids led to the creation of Civil Defence. What lessons can we learn from the Christchurch Earthquake? Better standards building on around liquefaction-prone ground seems like a priority.
Bill English has ruled out an inquiry into the SCF affair. Think about that: the government is forced to spend the annual Police budget in a single morning and isn’t even interested in learning what could have been done better. The public service’s response, on the other hand, to the Christchurch earthquake will doubtlessly be subject to numerous inquires. It’s just good governance.
If you have some time to spare this Saturday morning, check out the documentary “Overdose” – The story of the greatest financial crisis we will ever see… The one that is on the way.
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The Civil Defence Emergency Act gives the authorities some extraordinary powers and has seen a handful of people in Christchurch very rapidly tried and summarily convicted of some unusual offences. It reminds us that the State holds huge powers in reserve for times of crisis. It speaks to the strength of our institutions and the people who operate them that these powers aren’t abused.
It was heartbreaking this morning to read of the worsening conditions in Christchurch’s poor suburbs, where damage assessments are only just now being done and aftershocks are accumulating more and more problems on already vulnerable communities. So, this picture sent in by a reader caused a bit of a bemused smile (click title for big version).
Students are offering to help out in Christchurch. Do you need a hand?
The mind set of your typical far RWNJ (Right Wing Nut Job) reminds me of nothing so much as a spoiled greedy baby. Never more so than after reading a couple of notable tantrums from right wing politicians lately.
It’s been interesting to watch the Nats’ smear machine switch focus from Len Brown to Andrew Williams in recent days. I guess that’s what you get for letting Cameron Slater become your de facto chief strategist. Maybe the Nats have worked out that they’re not going to beat Brown. This article in the Herald certainly won’t help Banks one iota.
There seems to be confusing in National’s camp about further attacks on workers rights.
Unfortunately this tallies with rumours they’re planning big changes in a second term.
Fran O’Sullivan claims inside knowledge of the bailout plan may have given some investors the inside running.
That’s reminiscent of the headstart some investors got in ’84 when the dollar was devalued.
And it’s one more reason we need a public inquiry into the bailout.
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86 workers have been fired from Kaiapoi New World, which will be closed for a year due to quake damage. This is exactly why the government should implement the kind of scheme I outlined where the government steps in to supply the full wages of workers who can’t work due to the quake, funded by delaying the tax cuts for the rich.
The earthquake in Canterbury has presented us with politicians who are apparently firmly in charge and able to assess the situation, deploy troops and generally inform us, the general population, of what is going on.
Whatever could possibly be wrong with that?
The unilateral opening up of our ancestral lands and seas to drilling and mining by this Government is the most significant threat to the survival of our peoples and our way of life we have experienced in this generation. The big question in light of this the struggle is where are the Maori Party?
At last, the left has its own version of Investigate magazine. As you might expect it’s a bit saner and better substantiated than anything […]
John Key promised higher standards of government. Another lie. The list of rorts, incompetences, and abuses of power goes on and on. So, it’s hardly any surprise that Key doesn’t have a problem with Maurice Williamson’s racist comments. Make no mistake – it is Key’s decision that Williamson and the rest are ministers in our government
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Fran O’Sullivan joins us in asking why the Government was so quick to completely bailout the South Canterbury Finance investors yet is so miserly with quake victims. The Right cries ‘moral hazard’ when it comes to helping out quake victims; we didn’t hear that over SCF. Fortunately, we can help those in need and avoid creating moral hazards.
I’m hoping that someone (a fellow Standard author perhaps?) puts in an OIA over the South Canterbury Finance bailout. And here’s what I’d […]
The latest Guardian Weekly had two interesting and seemingly unconnected stories about major shifts in aid priorities on both sides of the world […]
A hell of a lot of those ‘back office bureaucrats’ that the Nats love to attack have been working their arses off on the Christchurch earthquake. You would think they’d get some respect from their political bosses. You would think wrong.
John Armstrong provides an insightful analysis of the politics around the aftermath of Christchurch’s earthquake, saying “The chaos and destruction wreaked on Christchurch by Saturday’s earthquake leaves no room for playing party politics….The politicians are already playing politics, however, though not too flagrantly. Saying you are not going to play politics – as Goff effectively did – is itself a political statement. As was John Key’s decision to cancel his trip to Britain and France.”
Days before accusing us of being racist for not wanting more of New Zealand’s land to fall under foreign control, Maurice Williamson was making racist jokes. Is it OK in John Key’s government for ministers to get pissed and tell racist jokes in public?
Here’s an interesting rant. I’m not going to link to it, because I want you to spend a moment trying to work out who (which raving leftie blogger?) is the author. So read it, and make your guess, then Google for the answer…
The unions, business, and Phil Goff have all gritted their teeth and called the Nats’ $15 million wage subsidy scheme for small quaked-affected businesses ‘a start’. The problem is, it’s likely to be the end. This scheme will leave workers and employers severely out of pocket, killing businesses and jobs.
As our msm persist with their increasingly banal fixation on Christchurch’s troubles, I’m reminded of a story that appeared in 2001 not long […]
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Yesterday Mr Key said he would leave for London to visit the Queen, only if he “could be confident Christchurch’s recovery was on […]
Independent MP Tony Windsor has decided to support the Labor Party into government, with fellow independent Rob Oakeschott expected to follow suit. The country independents say the best bet for rural regions is to remain independent and stick up for themselves – lessons for NZ?
There’s been some frankly bizarre talk about the earthquake being an economic boon for the country. I guess the Right is just desperate for anything to improve the economy under National. So, I thought it would be worthwhile going through the economic ramifications of the earthquake from the immediate effects to long term.
It’s a little disturbing to hear Te Ururoa Flavell saying that the Maori Party isn’t really satisfied with National’s new foreshore and seabed bill but will vote for it for now and will re-negotiate a new deal in the future. He’s dreaming. Both major parties have every incentive to consider the issue closed. With the Maori Party supporting the law, it will be seen as a full and final settlement.
The next Fabian seminar will be held in Wellington on Monday 13th September at Connolly Hall in Guildford Street at 5:30pm. Titled “Why […]
