Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 73

The Labour Party's Christchurch electorate MPs, Earthquake Recovery spokesperson Clayton Cosgrove (Waimakariri), Ruth Dyson (Port Hills), Lianne Dalziel (Christchurch East) and Brendon Burns (Christchurch Central) have started a regular bulletin to keep people in their electorates and media informed about what is happening at grass roots level.

CLAYTON COSGROVE: Thank you to the Crusaders for giving us such a great Super rugby season. You did us all proud! It is fair enough that the Earthquake Commission (EQC) is referring cases of possible contractor fraud to the police. We all agree that no one should be able to commit fraud, and that it is a particularly ugly offence given the tragic and difficult circumstances in Christchurch. There is, however, another issue in relation to EQC and contractors that I am coming across as I move around the greater Christchurch area. I have been speaking to very reputable firms with unblemished records, whose invoices have not been queried by EQC, but who have been waiting extraordinary lengths of time to be paid. One plumbing firm told me they were owed $77,000 when I met them a week ago. Firms that provide full documentation should be paid within a reasonable amount of time. It will be very interesting to see if Gerry Brownlee responds to repeated calls from Labour MPs to give earthquake victims access to legal advice before they sign off on claims, and to allow cross-party MPs access to briefings CERA holds on a regular basis with local authorities. We are not holding our breath, given his consistent refusal to date to give us any sort of answer. On another issue, following the letter I received last week from the Insurance Council, I expect this week to hear from individual insurance companies about how they have amended their project management contracts. That's an encouraging development. It's also encouraging to see the first people moving into the Kaiapoi temporary village on the domain. I visited the village yesterday, and it's excellent to see this progress.

RUTH DYSON: There are three things I would like to cover off today. Firstly, on Saturday night I attended the annual Sumner Fire Brigade honours evening. Here members are normally recognised for their length of service. However, this year, in an extraordinary display of community spirit and leadership, the fire brigade dedicated their evening to recognising Sumner earthquake community leaders and travelling fire brigades with appreciation certificates for their service and support throughout the aftermath of the quakes. The gesture spoke masses about their selfless community service. They also had Sky installed for the rugby! I want to pay tribute to the Crusaders. We were all disappointed that they couldn't bring the trophy home, but throughout the season their achievements did wonders for community morale. It was great to watch and weep in unity! On Sunday I went to a community meeting organised by Project Lyttelton which looked at local food security and the sustainability of the harbour basin. There was a really passionate group of people looking at how we can better use public land --- for example, planting fruit and nut trees, thinking seasonally about food and involving schools. Although the group is only just getting started there is already talk of having a sustainable resource centre in Orton Bradley Park and a focus motivated by cleaning up the harbour so we can again fish there. Lastly, I want to draw attention again to the importance of accurate timetables. A couple of weeks ago EQC was quoted in the Press as saying that residents in the white zone would be coloured in about two weeks, which is clearly not right. The Minister has said that the EQC were incorrect in announcing such a timeline, but there has been no correction printed or otherwise and residents are at a loss again. So it is the same old story-can we please have correct, timely information. It is not a lot to ask. I will talk to Mr Brownlee about this again.

LIANNE DALZIEL: So it is me! I said last week that I was being blamed for bringing seismic activity to Wellington. My first day in Tokyo and there is a 7.1 (upgraded to a 7.3 - where is Geonet when you need it?) off the coast of north-eastern Japan. It occurred off the east coast of Honshu, Japan's largest island, just before 10 a.m. local time at a depth of 21.7 miles. It was centered 131 miles east off Sendai and although 254 miles northeast of Tokyo I felt it as a steady rolling wave as opposed to the shaking I am used to in Christchurch. I am here for the Japan New Zealand Partnership Forum which has the theme this year: Japan and New Zealand - Overcoming Diversity, Building the Future. In offering remembrance for the lives lost in both our countries, this will be an opportunity to discuss how the relationship between our two countries might further assist in the rebuilding and renewal effort. The Partnership Forum is a central activity of the NZ International Business Forum with strong support from the government to strengthen NZ's business and economic relationship with Japan. I attended the first Forum in Tokyo two years ago, but this one has special meaning for me.

BRENDON BURNS: It is very disappointing to learn that a group of businesses has sent out an official-looking package labelled red zone into orange-zoned Cowlishaw Street in Avonside. I cannot believe this group of businesses could have been so insensitive. As I understand it, the package certainly looks official. It consists of a large plain white hand-delivered envelope marked: Red Zone Resident Invitation & Information. It is not hard to imagine its impact on people who are on the edge awaiting decisions on the future of their land. The last thing they need is companies hawking for business --- let alone making their pitch for that business appear as if it could be an official announcement from the Government. It's quite obvious what the companies should have done. If they are plying for business, they should have ensured that their package was only sent to streets and householders officially in red zones. The businesses involved in the letter include Lifetime Insurance Brokers, Lifetime Financial Security NZ Ltd, Crown Relocations, Grace Removals Group and Harcourts Grenadier City office. It would be a good piece of public relations recovery work if the businesses now sent another letter to Cowlishaw Street residents apologising for their insensitivity.

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