Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 43
new-zealand-labour-party
Tue May 17 2011 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 43
Tuesday, 17 May 2011, 12:40 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party
Christchurch
LABOUR MPs
17 May 2011 MEDIA STATEMENT
Christchurch Earthquake bulletin edition 43
The Labour Party’s Christchurch electorate MPs, Clayton Cosgrove (Waimakariri), Ruth Dyson (Port Hills), Lianne Dalziel (Christchurch East) and Brendon Burns (Christchurch Central) have started a regular bulletin to keep people in their electorates and media informed about what is happening at grass roots level.
CLAYTON COSGROVE: I have been coming across a number of people who are uninsured and therefore vulnerable. It should be emphasised that these are not people who have tried to rort the system. These people are not uninsured on the logic that someone else will just pick up the bill, they haven’t just rolled the dice— but despite this they are in desperate need. In most cases these people have either inadvertently let insurance payments lapse or have had to make a hard economic choice pre the earthquakes because of job loss and an inability to afford insurance, often the first time in their lives. Whilst I’ve got no sympathy for those who just refuse to pay, there are a number of cases which require attention. One example I know of is an elderly lady who was in a body corporate situation who then purchased a standalone property. The woman advised a private insurance company to transfer her insurance over so that she was fully covered. The insurance company only insured her for her contents because the body corporate at her previous dwelling held insurance. This discrepancy, at no fault of the elderly women meant she held contents but not home insurance on her new home when the quake struck and is understandably in a distressed state. This is an example of someone who has always paid her insurance but is inadvertently in a difficult situation—as opposed to someone who intentionally decides to take the risk. These people appear to be in no man’s land and while they realise that they are a lower priority than those who have insurance, they remain in need of assistance. I am not disputing that the first priority should be those who are insured, but I have suggested to Gerry Brownlee that he ask MSD to perhaps dig a little deeper here and find out what the individual circumstances are in order to explore the options. One option might be to work with the charitable sector to see what could be done.
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RUTH DYSON: Yesterday I went into the Red Zone for a brief tour along with all Christchurch based MPs, USAR and CERA representatives. The tour reinforced the severity of the earthquake in February and the risks that still exist with so many unstable buildings. The Chief Coroner’s inquest into the nine unidentified victims of February’s quake has led to some closure for families and friends who have faced a harrowing ordeal. I remain very concerned about the ramifications for schools that face dramatic reduction in operations grant funding when they have lost pupils because of the earthquakes. I have been meeting with principals in my electorate to discuss this issue. It will be a tragic blow for the teachers who were so courageous and selfless throughout the quake and its aftermath where they went the extra mile to care for our children. We have this issue on the agenda for our meeting with Gerry Brownlee tonight and have also asked for an urgent meeting with Ann Tolley. We need to support our schools and their staff at this time, not threaten harsh cuts without consultation. There were two more community meetings last night - one in Heathcote looking at flooding issues and the second one for Lyttelton getting community input into the recovery.
LIANNE DALZIEL: I visited the Red Zone yesterday with colleagues and it was a sobering experience. There were buildings that I hadn’t realised had already gone. There are buildings which have been tagged for demolition which are going to leave large areas of land completely bare. I support calls for a walkway for the public to see the damage and grieve for the loss, but I think it will be important to provide some commentary to accompany the walk, as many buildings that will come down don’t look so obviously damaged. These are buildings that owners will try to save and of course these are iconic buildings that have given Christchurch our collective sense of identity. I remain focussed on the eastern suburbs and met with my cluster of school principals again yesterday. They really need a clear response from the Government about their future with 10-30% of their school rolls affected by the earthquake. The operational grant lasts until 30 June 2011 and the staffing guarantee lasts until the end of the year as it stands, but these schools really need to plan now.
BRENDON BURNS: Sunday’s TV3 News carried the story of one of my constituents, the Hawker family of Phillipstown, who remain without a functioning main heater, despite having a terminally-ill relative staying with them. Such lack of heating is sadly not an isolated case. By now, Fletchers was due to have installed 4500 priority heating units for quake-damaged homes such as the Hawkers. As of a week ago there were fewer than 3000 installed. The point is, however, that there are over 25,000 claims for heaters – and 4500 of those dated back to the September quake! I was suggesting well prior to Christmas that there was a need to use the heating industry’s usual spring/summer slack period to get heaters installed. This has been a slow train wreck coming. Minister Brownlee is the only person who can clear the tracks. Desperate families like the Hawkers who are trying to stay warm with expensive fan heaters. Nobody will be more pleased than me if Fletchers has met its target of 4500 new heaters installed by today, but thousands more eligible people won’t get a new heater until well into winter or even by its end. Red Cross has promised help for people with winter power bills if they have to run inefficient heaters in a damaged house. That’s welcome but the level of support is unclear. The support was mentioned in a news story but I can find nothing on the Red Cross website specific to heating assistance. I am making inquiries. Minister Brownlee, in a response to Christchurch Labour MPs last week, said: “Work and Income can also help with heating costs (presumably if you are on a benefit.)” And he also said: “I am also aware that the Ministry of Social Development are currently in the process of developing resources for frontline agencies who can identify families with heating problems and connect them with some of the programmes and services available.” He has promised to keep MPs “briefed on progress.” So, heating is on the radar – but we are now heading into our first real week of winter.
ENDS
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