Canterbury people are not getting the support from the Government we deserve.The way REDZONED people are being treated I believe is a crime and should not go unchallenged says Olly Ohlson who is the face of a group of BROOKLANDS Stayers a group of 50 families in Brooklands.When the entire Brooklands suburb was redzoned by CERA Ohlson helped set up this group
The Legal opinion by Dr Duncan Webb a partner in the Christchurch ;law firm Lane Neave provides some hope for REDZONED Residents.It is our view that on the terms of standard insurance policies,other than those expressly limited only to physical loss,that where a property is in the redzone the obligations of the insurer will be to replace that property.This means therefore that everyone in a redzone area should be rebuilt or alternatively cashed up to that amount. Based on this legal opinion there could be an avenue for people to take insurers to court in retrospect for losses they incur as a result of being bullied into accepting the Governments offers. Ohlson say The Prime Minister should instruct Earthquake Minister Gerry Brownlee to fix the land at an estimated maximum cost of $45 million as opposed to the cost of redzoning estimated to be $57.7 million. These figures came from CERAS Released documents.
He and his group also argue that the whole suburb can't be rezoned in one swoop and that an individual geotech report should be made at eah site.I am very interested in the implications of DR.Duncan Webbs Legal Opinion.

I bet the pressure will be getting placed with the Police not to prosecute John Banks for it would create difficulties for John Keys Government and legislation. If ACT disappears that would change the makeup of Parliament.Assuming Paul Goldsmith took the seat in a by-election assuming there is no other strong candidates to come through and pluck the seat.It would place the Maori Party in an even greater position. AND What about Asset Sales or other measures Maori oppose.?Interesting times in the twists and turns of this Government.

Yes, Doc, the twists and turns of this govt as it works it way through this term are indeed interesting: now we have this PoodleBanks episode - the great moral leader shows how easily he is caught up in political chicanery. Let his sneakiness be his undoing and the country's redoing !

The fault @ Kiwirails National Train Control in Wellington which controls Aucland signals and radio control causes a power outage that shuts down all Aucklands train services beggars belief how a single point of failure is capable of taking out a city 700kms away. What no backup system.? Veolia Transport that wonderful multi-national runs the trains and Kiwirail itself the signals. Lord help everyone if Wellington gets a Big earthquake and Auckland won't just go out for a few hours or a day.Is it right that Kiwirail do have backup but that it was not staffed for an immediate switchover.?

Anyone seen shrinking violet Foreign Minister Murray McCully recently.? The responsibility for the chaos he has created at his Ministry is all his He has adopted a new initiative of making appointments on merit based on those who merit the ministers approval rather than the traditional skills of language and experience in regions.

our fearless leader

Yogi, All a bit of a John Key sick joke really. Just watch the hikoi roll on to Wellington and all the other protests test Our Johns resolve. And Teapotgate The John & John Show.

Hero42, One wonders about these five political donations to John Banks campaign of $25,000 each. One wonders whether one of those anonymous donations might have come from Hawaii holidaymaker John Phillip Key.? Now that would be a turnup for the books eh.?

All credit to Dr Russel Norman for asking this question, and would there not be a far more effective answer than John Key's be in amending the NZ Super Fund into a permanent institution of Personakl Accounts, with contributions into them built into our taxation system for 100% of citizen participation, including the poorest (through GST) without any taxable income at all?!

Let us be reminded, that the wide diversification of NZSF investments makes them the safest possible, to a degree unachievable by "all your eggs in one or even in half a dosen of baskets".

They would also be the safest for perpetuating NZ ownership of nationally sensitive assets, because a huge proportion of them need never be sold on the open market when taken over by the next generation in a NZ Super Fund permanence situation.

If our current massive demonstrations against assets sales reflect widespread unwillingness to be - or to become - a nation of excessively foreign capital dependent poor "have- nots", the situation is favorable to move in the direction of "Ownership Democracy" through resuming systematic universal NZSF contributions as in the answer to Russel Norman above, and his comments on that would be extremely interesting.

No wonder NZ is rapidly going down the gurgler with politicians who can't remember anything!

Who would you rather believe...John Banks or Dotcom...the latter I think.

One would think John Key would learn that asking MPs for their assurance that they have done nothing wrong isn't good enough.

How many times have National Party MPs lied to him and then had to resign, four if I remember rightly, and now we have an ACT MP doing the same.

Still with only a one seat majoprity for asset sales John Banks knows he can get away with what John Key wouldn't let Winston Peters get away with back in 2008.

I wonder if John Key appreciates the irony of his demands about Winston coming back to haunt him now.

Cheers