Posts by Sacha
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The clip of the TVNZ Key's visit story is up (stream, 4 mins).
Photo ops first, including some decent-looking impromptu interaction with residents and a visit to a cleanup crew from Federated Farmers (yep) at a school.
Hard questions at about 2m30; Key trots out "in a perfect world" line; reporter Beth Bates lets him have it. Probably not on the Christmas card list any more.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to BenWilson,
Or is it so cold that the beach just isn't the big draw?
possibly onto something there :)
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Islander,
New Brighton was a thriving little burgh
Mainly retail jobs though, wasn't it? Or was there a concentration of services/manufacturing businesses there too?
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TVNZ text story about Key's visit to Bexley today - only caught tail end of clip with reporter saying they'd hassled him into adding Aranui to his interary. Clip online later.
Key makes a reasonable case about the scale of re-electrification efforts. However, ignores comparative response in other suburbs and is still trying to make out that USAR and CDEM are somehow the same thing (whereas CD Director in linked clip from this morning acknowledges the obvious - that they've been running two parallel operations).
The operation needs to be put in perspective to the scale of the earthquake, Key said. "The priority absolutely had to be the search and rescue effort."
Also some implications from the commissar that would please Keown (no surprise an Actoid wouldn't recognise privilege if it bit him):
The Earthquake Recovery Minister is concerned that some residents don't understand the full extent of the quake damage. Gerry Brownlee said contractors are working as fast as possible to restore amenities but are having to clear enormous amounts of silt.
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Some small business recovery resources and stories
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Emma Hart,
Guessing poor people don't vote in Christchurch either
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Brian Rudman notes the opportunistic politicking and gives it some perspective.
Opponents of Auckland's long-delayed inner-city rail loop are seeking an easy victory by saying sacrifices must be made for "the sake of Christchurch".
A "senior Government source" has told the Herald the $2 billion rail loop now has only a remote chance of being built. More openly, Finance Minister Bill English is drooling about the partial sale of state-owned power companies to help pay for Christchurch's recovery.
This softening up of the electorate comes long before there's any accurate estimate of the Government's share of rebuilding costs. The Treasury's rough estimate is $5 billion over several years.
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It's hard to understand why the rebuilding estimate spooks Mr English and his colleagues. In his Budget last May, he proudly introduced personal tax cuts costing the state $14.3 billion in lost revenue over the next four years.
The Government is now borrowing $300 million a week, or more than $1 billion a month, to cover this and says this is acceptable. Alongside such figures, the Christchurch "$5 billion over several years" sounds much less intimidating.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Jackie Clark,
I am sorry you had mistook my italic emphasis for snapping
I imagine snapping in bold ..
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You might say the subtext here is that it's all in their heads, though I guess we'll have to wait to see the photo op and quotes on the telly to qualify the paraphrasing.
In the wake of criticism that the eastern suburbs were being neglected by authorities in the wake of last week's deadly earthquake, Mr Key, with Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, surveyed damage to power cables and the power substation and spoke to residents in the suburb of Bexley, where liquefaction has caused significant damage.
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He acknowledged that residents in the city's eastern suburbs may have felt they were missing out.
But saving 70 lives from the wreckage of the city centre had been the most important task for Civil Defence and emergency services, he said.
...Mr Key responded to ongoing criticism about the placement of portaloos in the suburbs, saying Civil Defence had assured him they had placed them "as best as they saw fit".
I hope the comparison with how other suburbs were resourced is not so easily sidestepped by calling on the fallen.
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