A rare show of unity

Desperate times call for desperate measures. There will be a lot of people in Canterbury feeling despair in the wake of 4 September, but Parliament has smoothed the way just a little. The Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Bill passed through all its stages last night, with widespread support - The Press reports:

Emergency legislation rushed through Parliament has given the Government extraordinary powers to rebuild Christchurch.

The legislation allows the Government to override a raft of laws without the threat of legal challenge after it ruled out the right of any court to review decisions under the Canterbury Earthquake Response and Recovery Act.

Faced with a massive damage bill and an uncertain future for many home and business owners, the Government says it needs the powers to get the city back on its feet as soon as possible.

Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee said the task ahead was "enormous".

"It's going to take a long time and we're going to need the rest of New Zealand to lend a hand. `Business as usual' won't work," he said.

"We need to be able to adapt and we need to be able to remove bureaucracy that would slow it up."

We commend the government for its speedy response in the form of legislation, and we commend opposition parties for their support. The powers conferred by this law are wide-ranging and include:

• Allows the Government to seek Orders-in-Council from the Governor-General to suspend or relax the usual laws if they stand in the way of or slow down Canterbury reconstruction efforts.
  
• Gives the Government wide powers to gather information about any structure or infrastructure affected by the earthquake where that might help minimise the damage caused by future earthquakes.
• Allows the Government to override a raft of provisions in existing law, including the Building Act, Health Act, Land Transport Act, Local Government Act, Public Works Act, Rating Valuations Act, Reserves Act, Resource Management Act and Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

These are not the kind of measures that we would normally applaud, but for those affected by the earthquake, these are not normal times. It's going to take a huge and concerted effort to restore Christchurch, but this legislation should remove some of the red tape, and that has to be a big positive in our ever-humble opinion.