Prime Minister John Key’s Weekly Column
Last Friday I traveled to Christchurch to mark the second anniversary of the 22 February 2011 earthquake. It was a poignant day to remember the 185 lives that were lost and the many others who were badly injured. At the memorial service, I paid tribute to the strength and resolve of Cantabrians who, in the face of massive disruption, uncertainty and anxiety, have shown great heart and resilience.
The day was an opportunity to not only look back at how far the city has come in two years, and also to look forward down the road ahead. We remain absolutely committed to standing beside the people of Canterbury. We have already overseen so much progress. By the end of this year, we expect more than 50,000 house repairs will have been completed under the Earthquake Commission’s managed repairs programme. This year will also see the rebuilding of central Christchurch going full steam ahead, as we move from demolition to construction. And last week, we announced the next stages in our plan to invest $1 billion into schools in the greater Christchurch region.
So much is happening – Christchurch is a different city now than it was before the earthquakes, and it will be a different city again by the time the rebuild is finished.
Census 2013
Coming up next week on Tuesday 5 March is Census Day. Everyone living in New Zealand on Census Day must fill in a census form. The information gathered from census is used by Government and Councils to plan and fund services in our community – things like hospitals and health care, schools, transport, infrastructure and amenities and recreational facilities.
The information you provide on your census forms is confidential and it is never shared with any other people or organisations. Census collectors began delivering forms from Saturday 16 February – they are easy to identify because they will be wearing a yellow ID card and carrying a blue Statistics New Zealand bag. This year, Statistics New Zealand has a team of 19 community liaison advisers working to promote the importance of census within ethnic communities. These community liaison advisers will be working directly with ethnic communities to get our census messages out to groups that have traditionally been under counted.
Please make sure you and your family remember to fill your census forms in. Census fact sheets are available in 27 languages and the 0800 CENSUS helpline has operators who can provide assistance in seven languages.
