Special Edition: Helping Canterbury

4 Comments
10 September 2010
Special Edition: Helping Canterbury

I'm devoting this issue of Key Notes to the earthquake in Canterbury and some of the Government initiatives to assist Cantabrians in restoring their lives.

Click here - or on the screenshot below - to watch my latest video journal.

Good evening,

The earthquake has wreaked havoc on Canterbury. It's damaged homes. It's ripped up streets. It's destroyed treasured possessions. And it's traumatised thousands of people. We're so lucky that no one lost their life.

I visited shortly after the earthquake and again this week. The scale of the destruction in the city I grew up in is hard to grasp until you see the amount of damage and talk to people about what they have been through.

But what strikes me - more than anything else - is how well people are coping. Some families have lost almost everything. They are scared and worried. And they don't know how long the aftershocks will continue. But they are picking themselves up, helping out their neighbours and their friends, and soldiering on in some really tough circumstances.

A mother I met at the Linwood welfare centre was devastated that her family's home is no longer fit to live in, but told me that as long as her family was together, she knew they could get through anything.

In Kaiapoi I talked to a man who couldn't get inside his family's business to see how badly it was damaged, but who was determined to rebuild it, no matter what.

It's that kind of story, and that kind of spirit, that shines through again and again wherever you go and whoever you talk to.

Everybody involved in responding to this natural disaster has done a great job. I'd like to thank everyone who is helping Canterbury get through this.

The Government is committed to rebuilding Canterbury. It will take some time until the region is back on its feet, but we are working hard and we will get the job done.

Besides our immediate response, some of the other steps we've taken include:

Small business and employee support: Giving emergency assistance to help small and medium sized businesses continue to pay wages to staff.
Encouraging rebuilding: Streamlining insurance processes to make sure that damaged property can be repaired as quickly as possible.
Helpline and website: Launching a website for people who need help or who want the latest updates from Civil Defence and other government agencies. You can also call 0800 779997.
Roading fund: Making $94 million available immediately to repair roads.
Trauma counselling: Providing $2.5 million for trauma counselling.
Community grants: Providing special grants for Canterbury social service providers.
Mayoral Fund: Donating an initial $5 million to the mayoral fund.

Click here for the latest news on the Government's response to the earthquake.

I urge those affected by the earthquake to reach out and ask for help from family, friends, or counselling services in the weeks ahead. Many people in Canterbury have told me that they are feeling anxious or stressed as the aftershocks continue. The Government stands alongside you as you recover from this frightening experience.

I'm travelling to the region again tomorrow and hope to see some of you while I'm there.

Best wishes,

John Key
Prime Minister

Click the images - or here - to look at some of the photographs from my trip earlier this week to Christchurch.

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#1 - N Buckland 2010-09-11 12:37 - (Reply)

Congratulations on a well managed government response to the Canterbury earthquake. However, the real heroes here are local government. It has been their efforts over decades of enforcing building and sanitory standards that has saved lives in this devastating quake. Governments public recognition of those efforts is overdue given that they are usually the everyone's whipping boy.

#1.1 - V Forsyth 2010-09-17 13:44 - (Reply)

Dear Prime Minister, I agree with Mr Buckland re the hard work being done towards the quake victims. I do have serious concerns surrounding the idea of offering holiday homes to the homeless in Christchurch. Most holiday homes for locals are going to be rural locations which makes not only the work commute but the school commute difficult if not impossible for those who are already displaced. I would suggest an alternative would be to contact one of the many Trailer Home companies around New Zealand and arrange temporary residences to be set up in council grounds (ie parks)as nearby to their former residences as safely possible until more permanent arrangements can be made. This allows them not only the comforts of a home, but it allows for them to have access to all the amenities they would otherwise usually be using bringing some "normality" back to their existence. Look forward to hearing your thoughts Rgds V Forsyth

#2 - Geoff Wiklund 2010-09-14 14:49 - (Reply)

Dear Prime minister, I respect you and really feel you are doing a great job, but I find it hard that you can go public saying you don’t mind how Hone votes because it does not reflect the views of the majority of New Zealanders yet you voted against the bill to repeal the antismacking bill when 88% polled said they want change! How does that work? Blessings Geoff Wiklund

#3 - Shayne said:
2010-09-28 20:54 - (Reply)

Yes fantastic job down here in Christchurch. Canceling that trip would have been a hard decision but I feel you made the right one. Having support from the Prime Minister certainly put me at ease and I am sure others felt the same.

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