Govt committed to Christchurch, says Key

Prime Minister John Key says the Government is committed to rebuilding quake-hit Christchurch. Photo / Jason Dorday

National Party faithful in Christchurch have again been reassured of the Government's commitment to rebuilding the city, with Prime Minister John Key today trumpeting the budget's quake-recovery package.

Speaking at the party's regional conference this morning, Mr Key outlined changes introduced in last week's budget, including the establishment of a $5.5 billion earthquake recovery fund.

"So here in Christchurch today I say this budget proves that your Government is committed to you," he said.

"We believe in you, we care about your future and we are putting our money on the line for this city."

Mr Key said National's first term had been challenging, noting in particular the global recession, the Pike River mine tragedy and Canterbury's two earthquakes.

"These events have made life difficult for many Kiwis. Our hearts have gone out to the families who have lost loved ones, or who have had their livelihoods taken away and their daily lives turned upside down," he said.

"We have done everything we can to stand by those affected and to provide them the leadership and support they need."

Speaking more broadly about the budget, Mr Key said while it had committed to the rebuild with the earthquake fund, it had also committed to reducing the country's debt.

"The National Party knows that New Zealand can't afford to keep borrowing its way to the future. We don't want this country to be built on one big Ponzi scheme."

While the Government has been criticised by some for making cuts to KiwiSaver and Working for Families schemes, Mr Key stood by the decisions.

"Unashamedly we've done some trimming. Less money for bureaucracy, less money for backroom administration, less money for Wellington waste."

Meanwhile, Labour leader Phil Goff questioned the plans for Christchurch's rebuild, and said the current skill shortage would cause problems and the Government was not doing anything to address it.

"We've got a huge problem with skills at the moment," Mr Goff told TVNZ's Q&A.

"The building and construction industry sees something like 90,000 skilled, extra-skilled and semi-skilled workers being needed to rebuild Christchurch, to deal with the leaky homes, to deal with the housing shortage in Auckland, but no plan's in place to upskill New Zealanders."

- NZPA