September 2011

What’s been Buzzing in the Beehive?

Leading NZ into economic certainty

For the past three years, the National-led Government has taken a number of responsible steps to turn around nine years of economic mismanagement by Labour and therefore cushion New Zealand from global economic uncertainty while preparing to rebuild Canterbury.

We have worked hard to get debt under control and are confident the Government’s books will return to surplus by 2014-15.  The result will be a faster-growing economy with more jobs for New Zealanders.

We’ve achieved this by introducing the biggest reform of the tax system in 25 years, which rewards work and savings, discourages borrowing and consumption, and significantly tightens tax rules on property speculation.

We’ve streamlined the state sector to reduce debt and shift public services from the back room to the frontline.

We’ve overhauled capital markets regulations and established the Financial Markets Authority, giving investors more confidence in market rules and enforcement.

And we’ve cut red tape to encourage enterprise and flexibility. We’ve boosted investment in vital infrastructure – such as roads, broadband, and the electricity network. And we’ve improved the education system so that our schools and tertiary institutions produce better skilled workers for the future.

Despite the surprises since then – including the devastating Canterbury earthquakes – the economy is now better placed to meet future challenges.   The revised EQC liability will not affect homeowners’ claims or the rebuilding of Christchurch.  Also economic indicators released on 5 September from the Ministry of Economic Development show the manufacturing and export sectors in Canterbury continue to perform well.

We’re very optimistic about the economic future for New Zealand. The last thing our country needs is more taxes and more debt. New Zealanders want a strong and growing economy that provides more opportunities, better wages, and the high-quality public services they need. That’s exactly what National will deliver.

Health update

The National-led Government has invested $1.5 billion of new money into our public health system over the past three years. We’re now spending $14 billion a year on health, the most ever, at a time when many countries are freezing or cutting their health spending. We are committed to growing and protecting our public health services.

We’re investing $20 million for more medicines in 2011/12, taking the total extra funding for medicines to $180 million over National’s three years in office. We’re subsidising new medicines including new cancer treatments, the first Alzheimer’s disease drug, and diabetes medicines. More people will have access to some already subsidised medicines, including several for depression, auto-immune diseases, Crohn’s disease, and cardiac and respiratory problems.

And we have delivered better access to elective procedures around the country with 145,000 elective surgery discharges in the year to July 2011.

Also, we’re managing to keep our doctors, nurses and midwives in New Zealand.  To date, our voluntary bonding scheme has attracted 1424 nurses, 220 doctors and 179 midwives across the country.  The last intake saw 32 nurses joining Canterbury DHB.  Joining the scheme means they are planning to stay for at least three years after graduation and they commit to working in hard-to-staff communities and specialities.  In return, they are rewarded with payments against their student loans.

In the Out-of-Parliament Office…

First offers made to Red Zone residents

The first 3000 of about 5000 red zone property owners began receiving government offers for their properties in late August with residents having nine months to consider the offers of purchase.   There are plenty of issues to consider as part of the offers.  The first two settlements were completed on 12 September.

Included in the offer is help with legal fees and generous deposit rates.

Those who accept the offer will be paid a deposit soon after the agreement is signed, of the lesser of 50 per cent of the purchase price (less any insurance payments already made), or $50,000.

This can be used to reduce existing debt, to help arrange financing for purchasing another property, or to pay a deposit for a new home.

If a homeowner chooses to accept the offer to purchase their entire property then the Government will contribute up to 50 per cent of their legal costs, up to a maximum of $750.

If they chose to accept the offer to purchase the land only, then the Government will contribute up to 50 per cent of their legal costs up to $500. 

There has been very high interest in the government’s offer to purchase red zone homes. Of the 5000 consent forms sent to the first group zone red last month, almost 4000 have been completed and returned to CERA. 

Land Decisions

Residential properties have been red zoned regardless of the damage to their houses because the land is too damaged to be to be suitable for residential occupation for a long period of time.  This means for the land to be fixed we would have to move people away from their homes for a number of years.  The Government decided this was not feasible.

A majority of those in the red zone have accepted our decision and understand the criteria that helped shape our decision.  These include geotechnical data such as changes in land height, cracking and liquefaction which would render the land too weak to support houses.  We have not made these decisions lightly.  We are mindful of those still in the orange zone, which includes large parts of Parklands, Brooklands, Spencerville and Southshore, whose land needs further engineering investigation.  I am hoping this will be completed soon despite the extra few weeks of delay.

Government package for red zone residents

Thank you to those 500 plus people who took the time to return my earthquake survey.  70 per cent of these think the Government’s response to the devastating earthquakes has been good or excellent, which is encouraging given the difficult circumstances.

And a majority said the Government’s response to the land damage issue has been good or fair.

If you have received an offer letter and are confused about the next steps then here’s a breakdown:

• The offer at 2007 Rateable Value (RV) provides a guaranteed cash amount.
• You can choose to sell your entire property at current RV, or sell the land only if you wish to continue dealing with your insurer about your home.
• You still retain the option of dealing directly with your insurer if that provides a better outcome for you.

We believe the offers are fair and generous relative to recent sales history, especially with real estate fees (typically 4%) not being payable, plus the help with legal fees as outlined above.  Many now want to look at what their payment will buy either in a new build or an existing property.  At present, there are some issues with new builds around availability of building insurance and land cover for future earthquakes on building sites, as well as availability of land.  There is work going on to provide possible solutions to all of these with the expectation of 10,000-15,000 new sections being made available over the next two years.

New Earthquake Assistance Centre for red zone residents

A new centralised information centre is open to support red zone residents and is on the corner of Wainoni and Breezes Roads.  It is staffed by representatives of CERA, the Christchurch City Council, the Canterbury Earthquake Temporary Accommodation Service, Community Law Canterbury, EQC, and insurance companies.  It will be a one-stop shop for residents to find assistance, advice, and updates on the progress of earthquake recovery work.

A Waimakariri Recovery Hub also continues to operate at 24 Sewell Street in Kaiapoi.

Westpac Business and Community Hub

The Westpac Business & Community Hub is now open.   The purpose of the initiative is to help businesses and community groups overcome some of the many practical difficulties in running their organisation on a day to day basis.  It offers free, temporary small to large office space, and provides access to phone, broadband, photocopying, video conferencing and a corporate lounge.  It is located next to the CBS Canterbury Arena.   The Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce, Recovery Canterbury and NZ Retailers Association will be present on site along with support services such as lawyers and accountants.  For more information see www.westpacbusinesshub.co.nz.

Housing support for red zone residents

There is now Temporary Accommodation Assistance (TAA) available for Cantabrians in the residential red zone, who have had to move out of their homes and have extra accommodation costs.

The Government has extended TAA because it will take time to reach final settlement on red zone homes. The extension applies to residents who want to stay in the city but whose homes can’t be rebuilt or won’t be repaired.

TAA is open to red zone residents who can’t live in their home, have reached the limit of their insurance cover for temporary accommodation, and are waiting for government or insurance settlement.

More info at:  http://www.quakeaccommodation.govt.nz/apply-for-temporary-accommodation-assistance

Canterbury Trades Training Boost

The Government is providing $42 million for trades training for Canterbury, to ensure that Cantabrians can build their skills and contribute to the rebuild of their city.

This investment will fund up to 1500 extra training places as part of a cross-agency response to meet labour demands for the reconstruction programme called ‘Skills for Canterbury’.

The ‘Skills for Canterbury’ package also includes up to 3000 more places in polytechs for construction-related training from existing funding, accelerated training programmes at polytechnics, and further funding and measures to help place more people into the construction industry.

CBD draft plan released

Christchurch City Council has released its draft recovery plan for the city’s CBD.  The plan details more than 70 projects to be built over 20 years.  The plan is available to view on www.centralcityplan.co.nz and submissions close at 5pm on Friday 16 September.  There are plenty of things to comment upon.

Major electricity repairs now complete

It’s great news that Orion has completed major post-quake repairs to its electricity network which mean stable power supply across Christchurch, in particular eastern Christchurch.  It’s taken six months of hard work involving 700 sector workers from New Zealand and Australia and culminated with the opening of the new substation in Rawhiti Domain off Keyes Road on 1 September which I attended with Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee.   The new substation provides capacity for 20,000 customers in north-east Christchurch to use electricity at pre-quake levels.  However, Orion’s work is not finished.  They have committed $730 m to their urban and rural Canterbury network over the next 10 years.  Well done Orion.

Me and Hon Gerry Brownlee at the opening of Rawhiti Domain substation

I’ve been to many local streets and communities recently on earthquake issues and am always happy to come to yours.  Please call my office on 382 5701 to arrange.

Something to savour…

Rugby World Cup Community Fanzones will run from midday to 11.00pm at Cowles Stadium, Cuthberts Green on Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September; Ascot Grounds at QEII on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 September; and Ferrymead Sportsfields, to coincide with Redcliffs school fair, on Sunday 2 October.  There will be live music, bouncy castle, food stalls and large screens to watch the matches live.

I’m proud to have been part of the New Zealand team which won the Parliament Rugby World Cup last week, after beating, France 44-0, South Africa 13-7 and Argentina 40-0.

Due to popular demand and a successful first round in May, we are looking at a November round of Project Plant, the community plant nursery I initiated.  Project Plant is a volunteer-run community plant nursery helping residents from quake-affected properties in Christchurch and Kaiapoi keep their treasured plants alive while they rebuild or relocate over the next 12-24 months.  For details please call my office on 382 5701.

Out and About

Me and pupils from St James School, Aranui with Government e-books	With the Prime Minister at the Canterbury School of Gymnastics

Until Next Time…

It’s been a year since the first 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck us on 4 September 2010.  It’s been a gruelling year that many of us would want to forget.   To date there have been over 391,000 claims made to EQC.

The Government has continued to support greater Christchurch since the first and subsequent earthquakes.  By working as a community, we will continue to make progress on rebuilding. The Government remains absolutely committed to rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds and we will continue to drive momentum in the recovery.

For updates from Christchurch-based National MPs, visit www.therecovery.co.nz

Regards,

Aaron Gilmore

Media Release from CERA

Property owners in orange zone areas waiting for rezoning decisions are being assured by the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority that a great deal of work is underway to give them certainty as soon as possible.

CERA chief executive, Roger Sutton, says rezoning decisions have already been announced for a significant number of people, but he is aware others are also anxious for news.

“We had hoped to be able to let people in Spencerville, Brooklands, Southshore and west Kaiapoi know this month what was happening for them.  Unfortunately, it’s taking longer than expected and we will be back in touch with them next month with an updated timeframe.”

Mr Sutton says he has written to all the affected property owners to apologise for the delay and explain the reasons behind it.

“Essentially it’s very complex geotechnical work and more information is needed before decisions can be made to ensure that they are well considered and robust.”

“One of the really important tools for assessing land is the aerial LiDAR surveying, and that was interrupted by snow dumps meaning that we had to get additional ground surveys done.”

“We understand these delays are frustrating for residents and I can assure them that as soon as the geotechnical work is completed, findings will be passed on to the Government to make the zoning decisions.”

“I know people have been incredibly patient and I want to thank them for that.  We appreciate how tough it is for them, but we’ve got to get the decisions right.”

 http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/5627004/I-m-off-says-Williams

My local Burwood-Pegasus and Labour City Councillor Chrissie Williams and I often didn’t get agreement on things. She worked hard for the people who elected her, but we got off to a bad start as she was my fourth form maths teacher and ran the orienteering team at Shirley Boys High!  I wish Chrissie well in the next stage of her life.  I also look forward to seeing some new blood injected into our community around the Council table at a time of immense local challenges for my Burwood-Pegasus ward.  This leaves Glenn Livingstone who was some 5,000 votes behind Chrissie as our other City Councillor (who I am told still lives on the other side of town!) and maybe the potential for Dave East who was third in the election by only some 50 votes and who sits on the community board, or some other person to step up.  The Labour party nomination will be an interesting one given the dynamics of the Community Board and the local Labour party and with a by-election having to be done within the next 82 days, it’s a distraction for the General Election on 26 November.

A quick update on the continuing issue for those former residents from the three retirement villages in the electorate that are in the Red Zone (Avonview and the two Kate Sheppard complexes). One of the complexes has been demolished and its 12 residents have settled. The Government continues to work with the Retirement Village Association (RVA) to amend the rules and guidelines on how Villages are managed so that the issues identified in the Canterbury Earthquakes does not happen again. It also my understanding that all of the former residents have been rehoused partly due to high levels of flexibility of other Village owners. Work continues between EQC, the Village owners and their insurers to resolve the amounts owing to residents. A number have settled already. One area of contention that I am pleased that the RVA agrees with me that there should be no 3% management fee deduction from any proceeds, this is worth a few thousand dollars to each former resident.

Media Statement from Hon Anne Tolley

Education Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the return of Shirley Boys’ High School to its original site in Christchurch, after 26  weeks of site-sharing following the February earthquake.

From tomorrow, 1300 Shirley Boys’ High students will be able to return to their home site, which suffered significant damage and liquefaction.

The Government has invested $2 million in repairing the site, making five damaged blocks safe and bringing in eight relocatable classrooms to replace the administration block and library which remain unusable.

“This signals a return to normality for students, parents and staff at the school,” says Mrs Tolley.

“It has been an extremely challenging time for Shirley Boys’ High and for Papanui High who have been site-sharing, and both schools deserve great credit for minimising the disruption to students and their learning.

“Their attitude, courage and determination has been reflected right across the education system in Canterbury, and I want to thank everyone for their hard work.”

The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) has agreed for the Shirley Boys’ High site to be used for up to two years.

Avonside Girls’ High and Marian College are now the only state secondary schools still site-sharing in the city, with Avonside set to return to its original site at the start of 2012.

The Ministry of Education is one of a number of government ministries and departments working with the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) on rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds, and supporting the welfare of its residents.  For more information visit www.cera.govt.nz

The draft Recovery Strategy for the greater Christchurch area is now available for you to read and comment on at www.cera.govt.nz  People have until Sunday 30 October 2011 to make their comments before a final draft is prepared.

There will be an information session on Sunday 25 September at Chisnallwood Intermediate, Breezes Rd, Aranui, between 2pm-3.30pm.

I’m proud to be part of the winning New Zealand team who beat Argentina 40-0 in Auckland today and overall tournament winner of the Parliamentary Rugby World Cup 2011. 

Good news this being progressed given the local community concerns.  It provides a short term solution until we can find a long term rebuild of QEII.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch-earthquake-2011/5576614/Portable-pools-for-Christchurch-schools

For those of you affected by the earthquake, I want to make you aware that there is a phone scam operating where people are getting calls claiming to be from Fletchers and then being asked for their bank account details and credit card numbers so that money can be transferred into.  Fletchers would never ask for this kind of information so never give out such details. It has been passed onto the police for investigation.

One year on: Looking back at the September earthquake

Canterbury has come a long way since the first 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck on 4 September 2010. This initial earthquake kicked off a series of seismic events in Canterbury the likes of which hasn’t been seen anywhere else in the world. There is a huge task ahead as we work to rebuild the city and region but we are making real progress.

The Government has continued to support greater Christchurch since the first earthquake, through more earthquakes and damage, in what has been an extremely difficult year for many Cantabrians. By working as a community, we will continue to make progress on rebuilding.

The Government remains absolutely committed to rebuilding greater Christchurch and its surrounds and we will continue to drive momentum in the recovery.

One year on: What we have achieved

The Government moved quickly following the aftermath of the disaster on 22 February. We declared a national state of emergency within hours, which remained in place for a number of weeks while we established a new government department, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA), to lead and coordinate the recovery.

Immediately after the February earthquake, we opened 10 welfare and recovery centres, contacted 19,000 vulnerable elderly people, worked to reopen all schools and universities, and restored power and running water to nearly all households outside the CBD.

We established a $5.5 billion Earthquake Recovery Fund over six years to provide certainty for rebuilding Canterbury. We also launched the official Christchurch Earthquake Appeal to help fund projects to benefit businesses, community groups and children.

In Budget 2011 we allocated 4500 places for construction related training, including 1500 new places worth $42 million; $10 million for social service agencies and counselling support for Cantabrians rebuilding their lives; $10 million to help Canterbury businesses and exporters continue to trade.

More than 10,000 winter heat installations and repairs completed in greater Christchurch. We have partnered with the Christchurch City Council’s company Enable Networks to bring ultra-fast broadband to every home and business in the city, which will assist in the economic recovery.

More recently, government letters of offer to purchase have been sent to most of the first group of property owners whose homes were zoned in the residential red zone on 23 June.

We will continue our work on making decisions around the land still in the orange zone and progressing offers of purchase to residential red zone homeowners, to provide certainty as quickly as possible to those whose homes have been the most affected.

One year on: Looking ahead

The Government will continue to support Canterbury in every way possible. The Royal Commission of Inquiry is examining issues around the built environment in the Christchurch CBD., the $5.5 billion Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Fund is providing certainty for the rebuild, and CERA is doing a great job of leading the recovery effort.

We’ve boosted trades training in Canterbury, with 1500 extra training places to meet labour demands for the reconstruction programme. This takes the total number of training places to around 4500. Cantabrians can build their skills and contribute to the rebuild, and as construction peaks in Christchurch we will be in a better position to meet labour demand. 

Meanwhile, we are continuing our work with classifying orange and white zone areas as either red or green. CERA is writing to all insured homeowners in the residential red zone asking them to complete consent forms, so CERA can send offer letters to homeowners. Thousands of red zone residents have already received their offers. There is no doubt this is a big decision for homeowners. There is a lot of information to consider and nine months to reach a decision. All those affected are strongly urged to seek appropriate advice and support to assist in making these decisions.

We believe the offer process is fair and offers a positive outcome to those who are unable to rebuild their homes for a considerable period of time.

Cantabrians can have confidence in the EQC

The Government is committed to rebuilding Christchurch and supporting Cantabrians. The EQC’s estimated liability from the Canterbury earthquakes has increased by about $4 billion to $7.1 billion, but this will not affect homeowners’ claims. Nor will it delay rebuilding.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee has reassured Cantabrians the EQC’s fund is guaranteed by the government. Contents, building and land claims with the EQC will continue to progress, and claims will continue to be paid out.

The increased liability will have a one-off impact on the government’s operating balance for the 2010/11 year. Despite this, the Government remains on track to meet Budget forecasts of a return to surplus by 2014/15 and to keep net debt below 30 per cent of GDP.

More information: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=36919

Further legal representation for quake victims’ families

The Government has agreed to fund further legal assistance for families of Canterbury earthquake victims. This will be welcome news for those who have lost loved ones.

A new lawyer will be appointed to assist the Royal Commission with a special focus on representing the interests of families who lost loved ones. This will help families to better understand the processes involved in the inquiry, and provide them with assistance in presenting their evidence and having it recorded.

Before now, legal assistance for families has been provided by two independent Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission. A Family and Community Liaison Officer also assists bereaved families by liaising with them and responding to their concerns. The additional lawyer will work closely with the Family and Community Liaison Officer and the families themselves to help address their interests and answer their questions.

More information: http://www.national.org.nz/Article.aspx?articleId=36855