WHERE WERE YOU ON FEBRUARY 22? by Samantha McQueen
I was eight years old when my mum came into the bathroom on September 1, 1997 (New Zealand time) to tell me that Princess Diana had died. I was in the bath playing with my blue, red and white toy boat and my first thought was “what colour had she dyed her hair?”. It sounds moronic now, but it’s the first thing that springs to mind whenever anyone mentions the late Princess of Wales. I had always been fascinated with the royal family, mostly because I had a crush on Prince William, before he started to bald and went steady with that commoner Kate Middleton. On September 12, 2001 I spent part of the day in Room 17 at Otumoetai Intermediate, crowded around a 12” television watching images of the World Trade Center crumble in front of our eyes. I remember the plane going into the second tower kept replaying and the sight never got less scary. I didn’t cry at the time, but when that song by DJ Sammy was released a year later with the little girl talking to her dead father, I bawled. This was the first time an international event affected me.
a few million for christchurch by Courtney Jarrett
14.
On September 4, 2010 I was fast asleep in a student flat in Upper Riccarton, Christchurch when I suddenly felt myself being yanked from the comforts of flannelette sheets to the doorway of the bedroom. I was worried the wardrobe in front of the bed – made up entirely of mirrors – was going to smash based on how loud it was shaking, and the glass skylight in the bedroom roof did nothing for my nerves either. After the initial shock was over I turned to twitter to confirm that I had indeed experienced an earthquake. I shed a few tears during the tremors but after 10 minutes, I had set up camp on the hallway floor, covered in a mink blanket because it was freezing. The flat I was staying at only lost power until 10am and the street had not a scrap of evidence that there had been destruction further afield. That night, while the television showed images of silt and broken houses, I ate nuggets and chips on the deck with a beer. On February 22, 2011 at 12.51pm I was eating a pita in Auckland’s metro food court, with my phone sitting in my bag back at the office. I first heard of the news
when I got back to my desk. My manager Rebecca said to me “a big earthquake’s just hit Christchurch” just as I was reading a text message from a friend that read “fucking big quake just hit”. It was just after 2pm and there were already images of the destruction on Stuff and people openly grieving online. I only made it to 3.30pm at work that day before I went home to watch the devastation unfold on screen. February 22, like few others before it, will be engrained in my memory for the rest of my life. And I was safely in Auckland, away from all the debris and tragedy. I can’t even fathom how it must feel to be stuck in the centre of it all, feeling helpless to Mother Nature and those awful tectonic plates. It will be months before Christchurch finds its footing again and New Zealand will carry the grief of February 22 around with them forever. In 20 years time, when our children talk about Christchurch we will be able to tell them exactly where they were the moment a piece of New Zealand was lost forever. So, where were you?
We’ve all seen footage of the devastation that hit the lower country on February 22. We’ve seen the ruined houses, the ruined workplaces, the ruined lives. We all know that it will take years to rebuild and that the cost of this is estimated to be in the billions. We know that a country like New Zealand cannot afford such a price. Do you know what the government could have done to fundraise? Called off the Botany by-election. With the resignation of Pansy Wong as a Botany candidate last year, the rapid growing area of Botany has been left without an MP. An election held on March 5 is set to change this, all at the cost of the taxpayer. I believe this was a waste of time. Although a relatively new electorate, the Botany area has always been traditionally held by the National Party. So much so that the cheesy smile that is Phil Goff stated on One News last month that his underdog candidate, Michael Wood, has 11,000 seats to win back in order gained a majority vote. Think this is going to happen? Not likely. In fact, in the same news article, members of the Botany public were asked to recognise Michael Wood from his candidate photo. Only one person could recognise his face. That person was me. Did I vote for him? No. A by-election in Botany was a waste of time and resources that could have been better used to help fellow Kiwis in need. With general elections due in September, a by-election only holds true for another five months before the process, and the cost, is repeated. There was little need to waste millions of dollars on this election to see it become null and void in the near future.
The time span until general elections is not the only thing that bothered me about this election. What bothered me is that every person who I talked to had little or no interest in the election and had no idea who they are going to vote for. Those who did have half a clue tell me that chose their candidate because they seemed like “a nice guy” when strutting around Botany shaking hands with the locals. Perhaps the candidates were perky from all the coffee they drink from my local cafe, or maybe they were just trying to secure the electorate before the general election. Either way, a false smile and a few hand shakes are not going to deal with the poor public transport to the Botany area or the growing number of potholes in the road at the town centre. Jami-Lee Ross, no matter how many times he introduces himself to me, does not seem to value these issues. I did not hear anything of what any of these candidates stand for, nor did I wish to know. I did not partake in an election funded by money that could be used to do real good. Yes, I realise there had already been a lot of money poured into the by-election and that nobody wanted to see those pricey, shiny billboards go to waste. But why didn’t we save the rest of the resources that will soon be used by Jami-Lee Ross, Michael Wood, Lyn Murphy and Paul Young and give them instead to our family and friends down South. Let the candidates keep their posters up until September and get them away from my early morning caffeine fix.
issue 02 2011