After the quake: The complex dance of local government, national government and accounting. (November 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Miley, Frances; Read, Andrew
• Other Names: Gomes Delfina guest-editor.; Sargiacomo Massimo guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Accounting history. Volume 18:Number 4(2013)
• Page Start: 447
• Page End: 471
• Publication Date: 2013-11
• Subjects: accounting history -- government accounting -- local government -- natural disasters -- New Zealand; Accounting -- History -- Periodicals; 657.0905
• DOI: 10.1177/1032373213505742
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1032-3732

Abstract

This research considers accounting for post-earthquake recovery in New Zealand. New Zealand's most devastating earthquakes are considered to be the Murchison earthquake of 1929, the Napier/Hawke's Bay earthquake of 1931 and the Christchurch earthquakes of 2010–11. At the time of the Murchison and Napier earthquakes, government accounting information was an ex post record of expenditure. Contemporary government accounting in New Zealand is accrual based and comprehensive, and so accounting information has played a more prominent role in the management of Christchurch's earthquake recovery. Apart from evidencing the significant change to government accounting, an historical comparison of accounting in the context of the Murchison and Napier earthquakes vis-à-vis the Christchurch earthquakes indicates the extent of change in the interplay between national and local government in New Zealand. The relationship between national and local government, though legally unchanged, has become more complex, but the financial reports do not reveal this complexity. Through historical analysis the extent of this change is made visible.