Brownlee must step in as EQC spin exposed

new-zealand-labour-party

Fri Apr 29 2016 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Brownlee must step in as EQC spin exposed

Friday, 29 April 2016, 12:43 pm
Press Release: New Zealand Labour Party

Megan Woods
MP for Wigram
Canterbury Spokesperson

MEDIA STATEMENT

29th April 2016

Gerry Brownlee needs to step in after EQC’s desperate spin in the wake of yesterday’s landmark settlement has been exposed by its own documents, says Labour’s Canterbury spokesperson Megan Woods.

“Yesterday’s settlement showed that thousands of homes may not have been repaired to the standard legally required and EQC is desperately trying to pretend there’s no issue.

“In a statement yesterday, they claimed that all the settlement did was confirm their position that repairs needed to be to an ‘as new’ standard. The problem is: that wasn’t their position and it never has been.

“According to their own customer guide, EQC’s policy has been to ‘return your home to its pre-earthquake state’ – not the ‘as new’ condition required by the Act.

“They’ve been using the wrong standard for years and now they are trying to pretend they’ve been using the correct one all along, but their own documents show that isn’t true.

“This is really concerning. There is a major issue with the standards of thousands of repairs, and instead of owning their mistakes EQC is trying to pretend up is down and black is white. Gerry Brownlee can’t let this happen – he needs to make sure Cantabrians get the truth.

“This deluded response from EQC is just further proof that the situation at the agency is out of control. A full inquiry is needed to ensure this mess is fixed and nothing like it happens again. Gerry Brownlee needs to step in, make EQC own up to the truth, and work on a solution,” says Megan Woods.

ends

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