Labour playing catch up again   9 Jul 2014

Labour playing catch up again

Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Gerry Brownlee says that once again, Labour is playing catch up with the Government.

“The Labour Party’s latest announcement on insurance shows yet again they have not done their homework, and are unaware that many of their “new ideas” are already underway,” Mr Brownlee says.

“Mr Cosgrove’s bright idea is for an Insurance Commissioner to review and make recommendations on the actions of EQC following the earthquakes. The Government is already well down the path of reviewing the Earthquake Commission Act. On the whole, the EQC model has worked well, but we have always said there is a need to refine and improve the legislation in response to the lessons learned from the earthquakes.

“The terms of reference of the review have been publicly available for some time and include the caps, excesses and levy collection mechanism. The Government has been quite open about the need to look at increasing the $100,000 EQC cap, as this limit was set in the early 1990s and has not kept up with inflation.

“The Government has already made the Temporary Accommodation Allowance available to ensure that homeowners have access to accommodation once private cover has expired.

“In addition, EQC already recognises increased risk of damage from liquefaction and flooding in Canterbury as a result of the earthquakes. This raises complex legal issues which are being tested via a declaratory judgment in October, though Mr Cosgrove seems blissfully unaware of this fact.

“A pattern is certainly emerging of Labour being caught napping rather than coming up with new policy. This highlights their lack of understanding of Earthquake Recovery issues and absence of new ideas for Christchurch.”

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