By CASEY NEILL
CHRISTCHURCH is rising from the rubble, three years after a 6.3 magnitude earthquake flattened the New Zealand city.
And businesses in Melbourne’s south east can help.
More than 200 people attended an information session at Sandown Racecourse on 25 February to learn about opportunities to join the rebuild.
South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA) ran the two-hour event with City of Greater Dandenong, Industry Capacity Network (ICN) and Department of State Development, Business and Innovation (DSDBI).
SEMMA executive officer Adrian Boden said the $40 billion project was a huge opportunity on the region’s doorstep.
“Take Dandenong today. Flatten it,” he said.
“Could you play a part in rebuilding it?
“If you think a little bit laterally, there might be some business.”
Mr Boden said New Zealand had the capability to finish the project on its own, but not the capacity.
He said SEMMA could help to co-ordinate advice and partnerships for interested businesses.
“You’re a few hours away, plus you speak the same language,” he said.
“You’re as close to New Zealand as you are to Darwin.”
Manufacturing Minister David Hodgett said there were opportunities for small businesses as well as “big players” through partnerships.
“Let’s not forget that this has come about as the result of a devastating earthquake,” he said.
“But now we’re seeing the rebuild start. They’re turning to you.
“New Zealand cannot do it alone.”
Andy Balmain from the independent Industry Capacity Network (ICN) recently returned to Melbourne from the devastated city.
“The people of Christchurch are still hurting quite significantly,” he said.
ICN identifies opportunities for businesses and Mr Balmain urged any that were interested in helping in Christchurch to submit their details and examples of previous projects.
“We are kind of a matchmaking service for industry,” he said.
He said the rebuild was progressing, but New Zealand industry couldn’t keep up.
“We are competitors on the sporting field but there’s a tradition of the nations working together,” he said.
“It’s about identifying the gaps.”
Mr Balmain said some of these included land surveying, project management, asbestos removal, shop-fitting and traffic management.
He said there were residential and commercial projects, and construction demand was expected to peak next year.
There are opportunities in New Zealand beyond Christchurch, too, with the rebuild drawing resources from other regions.
Darren Elphinstone, director of Tasmanian company Elphinstone Enterprises, has been working in Christchurch for about a year.
“That’s where you need to be if you want to grow and develop your business right now,” he said.
He said businesses needed to build relationships with parochial Christchurch counterparts, not just try to sell them something – make friends, have a beer, “and the business will flow”.
“They class themselves as a small country town,” he said.
Mr Elphinstone said there were logistical difficulties to contend with on the ground in Christchurch, as well as financial challenges around returning profits to Australia from New Zealand.
“But you’ve got guaranteed 10 years’ work,” he said.
