Tag Archives: disaster

Ten years of stress in New Zealand: Update

Update: Looking at this visualisation from p. 2 of the latest Canterbury Wellbeing Index, it seems that it is accepted that ‘High Stress’ has indeed gone up in New Zealand – and more so in Canterbury – between 2008-2010 and … Continue reading

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Ten years of stress in New Zealand

The 5th anniversary of Canterbury’s devastating earthquake on 22nd February, 2011 is looming. A recent after-shock of 5.7 magnitude quake has provided added stress to an already stressed population. There have been recent reports of increased suicides and suicide-related calls, depression and anxiety in … Continue reading

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Christchurch and the election

[As an experiment, I’m testing the use of an ‘abstract’ for my posts. Those who don’t want to grind through the long version but would like to know if it might be worth the grind can have an overview of what … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Education, Labour, New Zealand Politics, Political Polls, Political Psychology | Tagged , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

‘How Green was my East Frame?’

It looks like the green highlighter that was used to ‘Wow’ the population of Christchurch in the original Central City Blueprint has faded already. The images above can be found in the online article from The Press ‘Green space shrunk … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Spotlight on Christchurch: Epilogue – ‘Trickle up theory’ a confirmed success

It seems that with every day that passes more pieces fall into place. Jig-saw addicts know the feeling well: A piece seemingly no different from any other catches your eye and, as you place it down, it fits snugly into … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Economics, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Spotlight on Christchurch – Part I: Manufacturing crises and consents

[Prologue: The bulk of this was written before I heard the news that Bob Parker was not going to contest the upcoming local body elections as a mayoral candidate. The same is true for the second part of this three-part … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Back to school in happy town

How are you feeling? If you’re in Christchurch, CERA thinks you’re doing really well. A media release cheerily announced that ‘Wellbeing Survey reveals positive outlook‘. Conducted for CERA by Nielsen Research from August to October, 2012, “2,381 residents completed questionnaires [of whom] … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Freedom, New Zealand Politics, Welfare | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

And to the victors, the spoils – ‘business as usual’ in Christchurch

[Warning: Very Long Post] The strangely mis-named Christchurch and Canterbury ‘recovery’ continues to unfold in highly predictable ways. Even Christchurch’s arsonists appear to have aligned their activity with the interests of the ‘recovery’ – or at least with the plans … Continue reading

Posted in Earthquakes, Economics, Free Market | Tagged , , , , , , | 12 Comments

From the ‘Gomer Pyle’ files – Boys’ High Head Trevor McIntyre Resigns

Boys High Head Trevor McIntyre Resigns | Stuff.co.nz. [A very short post!] For those who paid any attention to the announcements over Christchurch schools (including my previous posts on the topic), it will come as no surprise that Trevor McIntyre … Continue reading

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The school of hard knocks and ‘the curious incident of the dog …’ – Part II

What was it all for? One answer has been given by the Minister of Education, Hekia Parata: The education sector, just like everything else in greater Christchurch, has experienced huge disruption due to the earthquakes. Buildings have been damaged and … Continue reading

Posted in Democracy, Earthquakes, Education, Human Wellbeing, New Zealand Politics | Tagged , , , | 12 Comments