Quake-ravaged Canterbury and Auckland are clearly the two major infrastructural challenges facing New Zealand.

The Earthquake Commission has paid out $1 billion in claims from the Canterbury earthquakes.

A worker who hasn't been paid after his employer's business was shut down by the Christchurch earthquake has been awarded nearly $5000 in unpaid wages by the Employment Relations Authority.

Rates across the country could rise due to increased insurance bills in the wake of the Christchurch quakes.

The All Blacks are booked to play a test in Christchurch next year, but that match and the Crusaders' home fixture list remains in limbo.

Taxpayers would pay most of the cost of repairing future earthquake damage to uninsured Christchurch infrastructure, a spokesman for Finance Minister Bill English says.

Decisions on the future of Christchurch's quake-hit schools will depend on the relocation plans of the city's red-zone residents.