Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill passes

The House this afternoon passed the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill, which repeals the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act 2010.

The Bill sets out appropriate measures to enable the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery and/or the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) to facilitate and direct greater Christchurch and its communities to respond to, and recover from, the impacts of the Canterbury earthquakes.

Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the Bill was founded on the need for community participation in decision-making processes while balancing this against the need for a timely and coordinated recovery process.

“It is necessary to put in place stronger governance and leadership arrangements for the rebuilding and recovery of greater Christchurch from the cumulative effects of the 4 September and 22 February earthquakes,” Mr Brownlee said.

In developing the Bill to put in place new arrangements the following factors were taken on board:

• the scale of the post-earthquake rebuilding effort recognising that the 22 February earthquake represents an incomparable natural disaster in New Zealand's history:

• lessons learnt from international experience and from the recovery planning after the 4 September earthquake including the strong indication to have a single entity in charge of, and responsible for, the recovery efforts;

• the need for timely and effective decision-making powers; and

• the significant co-ordination needed between local and central government, residents of greater Christchurch, Te Runanga o Ngai Tahu, NGOs, business interests and the private sector.

“The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Bill provides a transition from the National State of Emergency to a state of urgency, and eventually a full recovery for the people of Canterbury,” Mr Brownlee said.