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24 Thursday March 16 2017<br />
Latest Christchurch news at www. .kiwi<br />
The Star<br />
Viewpoint<br />
Recovering from<br />
the Port Hills fire<br />
A MONTH on from<br />
the Port Hills fire, we<br />
now know a lot more<br />
about the damage<br />
caused by the blaze<br />
and the condition of<br />
the areas affected.<br />
Excellent work from<br />
people across many agencies has<br />
gone into managing the situation<br />
after the fires.<br />
Helicopters have used thermal<br />
imaging technology to identify<br />
hot spots, which are particularly<br />
dangerous features of bush fires.<br />
Even when the flames are out, the<br />
ground can still be hot enough to<br />
cause the fire to flare up again.<br />
Firefighters from across the<br />
country have been digging out<br />
and dampening down the problematic<br />
hot spots but the end of<br />
the situation is in sight.<br />
The death of chopper pilot<br />
and former SAS soldier Steve<br />
Askin was a devastating blow<br />
to emergency services and the<br />
wider community. I attended his<br />
funeral, which was a very moving<br />
service for a man who embodied<br />
the best qualities of the Kiwi<br />
spirit.<br />
The damage caused by the<br />
wildfires was extensive and disastrous<br />
and firefighters worked<br />
tirelessly to save as much property<br />
as possible. I know they take<br />
the loss of anyone’s home very<br />
hard.<br />
Some aerial pictures of where<br />
Gerry Brownlee<br />
the fire travelled show clearly<br />
the immense efforts to divert the<br />
fire from houses, with patches<br />
of green visible in the middle of<br />
black, burnt ground.<br />
The prime minister and I<br />
visited the command centre in<br />
Selwyn and saw the extent of<br />
the damage first-hand from the<br />
air, which was a very sobering<br />
experience.<br />
It was heartening to hear that<br />
some particularly significant<br />
natural hardwood forests were<br />
saved. These forests have tōtara,<br />
mataī and kahikatea that are 700<br />
to 800 years old. I’m also pleased<br />
that the new Christchurch Adventure<br />
Park narrowly avoided<br />
being destroyed as this would<br />
have been an enormous loss for<br />
our regenerating city.<br />
I want to again thank the<br />
firefighters, helicopter pilots,<br />
local authorities, the New<br />
Zealand Defence Force and<br />
all frontline personnel for<br />
their long hours of work in<br />
difficult conditions – we truly<br />
owe them.<br />
•Gerry Brownlee is<br />
Minister supporting Greater<br />
Christchurch Regeneration<br />
Readers respond to an<br />
article in The Star last<br />
week, which reported<br />
many Cantabrians were<br />
struggling to find jobs and<br />
believed pay rates were<br />
being driven down by<br />
competition from the 6292<br />
foreign workers brought<br />
to Christchurch over the<br />
past three years under<br />
the Government rebuild<br />
worker scheme<br />
Glenn Morrissey – What<br />
I could say about being a<br />
contractor here and the phone<br />
not ringing; about agencies<br />
that don’t hire Kiwi labour;<br />
of a complete lack of interest<br />
from the industry; about the<br />
volume of under the table work<br />
that happens here; of living in a<br />
complex that’s being renovated<br />
by entirely foreign labour; of all<br />
of that.<br />
Yet Work and Income is still<br />
giving people three grand to<br />
come here.<br />
Emma Poole – I am a dairy<br />
farmer (or was), who has spent<br />
three full seasons with one<br />
employer and worked as a relief<br />
milker for the same employer<br />
the following season.<br />
I have found it very hard to<br />
gain employment within this<br />
industry as employers are more<br />
often employing foreigners and<br />
paying less. I have even looked<br />
and applied for positions that<br />
are well below my average<br />
wages/salary, simply as I want<br />
a job. I’m told I am either over<br />
qualified or they are looking for<br />
someone just starting out.<br />
I have worked with several<br />
Indians and through conversations<br />
I learnt that both Indian<br />
employees were being paid<br />
$15,000 less than I was, and<br />
I had taken a junior position<br />
just to get back into what I love<br />
doing.<br />
I have also applied at several<br />
fast food outlets and have been<br />
declined, even though they are<br />
hiring.<br />
Instead of employing overseas,<br />
maybe the Government<br />
should introduce a work for the<br />
benefit scheme, where they work<br />
and learn and, if they don’t<br />
CHANGE: Migrants are willing to work for a lot less than local<br />
contractors, which is driving down pay rates.<br />
PHOTO: GEOFF SLOAN<br />
show up, dock their wages by<br />
the amount of hours they never<br />
showed. Drug test unemployment<br />
beneficiaries, as I know<br />
so many young ones aged 16-25<br />
that are constant drug users.<br />
The Government needs to stop<br />
making excuses and start acting.<br />
Joseph Shaw – I read your<br />
article in The Star about migrants<br />
taking jobs off Kiwis like<br />
me and I can honestly tell you<br />
they are! I can’t get a job here in<br />
Christchurch, employers want<br />
cheap labour. I live in Hornby-<br />
Wigram. On the job seekers<br />
benefit, like for ever. Someone<br />
help me get a job!<br />
Ken Duncan – I will give<br />
you several examples of the issues<br />
confronting Kiwi workers,<br />
and the claims by politicians,<br />
leaders of groups like Business<br />
New Zealand and employers are<br />
nothing but smoke and mirrors.<br />
First example happened to me<br />
recently.<br />
It is not uncommon when<br />
going through agencies for the<br />
agency to mislead you about the<br />
nature of work to just get a body<br />
on site. It is also not uncommon<br />
for employers to state to an<br />
agency that they want someone<br />
for a position which pays lower<br />
than what they really want. According<br />
to an employment advocate,<br />
these situations cannot<br />
be resolved by the employment<br />
courts.<br />
In the main, they involve a<br />
couple of dollars an hour difference,<br />
but my recent experience<br />
was quite different.<br />
The company allegedly asked<br />
for a labourer and an agency<br />
passed it on to me, so yes, I<br />
needed work and went. First<br />
thing I was told on arriving is<br />
you’re driving the truck. Three<br />
days later it was upgraded to<br />
a class four truck. Since most<br />
of it was off road so fitted with<br />
my training in the army, I kept<br />
doing it.<br />
The agency was aware of<br />
this, and aware that I should be<br />
getting paid more. I generally<br />
don’t do driving jobs because<br />
I don’t like driving, systems<br />
have changed and many<br />
requirements are unrealistic.<br />
On the third week, another<br />
person arrived from the agency<br />
to do the same job, getting paid<br />
$7 an hour more.<br />
They had more experience at<br />
driving trucks, but not in the<br />
off-road driving type we were<br />
doing. Pay came through, I was<br />
still on a labourer’s wage.