A Christchurch business leader says it would be short-sighted to draw a pool of leaders to replace the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) from Christchurch alone.
Photo: RNZ / Diego Opatowski
Labour Party leader David Cunliffe said on Thursday that if elected, Labour will do away with CERA in 2016 and instead appoint "qualified locals" to lead Christchurch's recovery.
Mr Cunliffe said Cantabrians with appropriate skills, experience and community connections will be immediately appointed to oversee the dissolution of the authority, which is currently answerable to the Earthquake Recovery Minister, Gerry Brownlee.
But the Canterbury Employers Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Peter Townsend, said it shouldn't be restricted to just local people.
He said the Christchurch rebuild is one of the biggest jobs to be done in Australasia and it needed leadership to reflect that.
"So if it did manifest itself into some form of authority with a governance board, we'd be looking for the best people with the best experience right across rebuild and right across community redevelopment to do the job."
