Woods Megan: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWoods Megan: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 07 April 2016. Volume:712;Page:10318. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]8.Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) to the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission: What is the total number of complaints lodged with EQC in relation to the Canterbury Home Repair Programme to date?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission):Very few although over the 5 years possibly a few more than the number of signatures on a petition on this matter being presented to Andrew Little tomorrow by the Christchurch Central Labour Party candidate Dr Duncan Webb.Dr Megan Woods: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That was a primary question on notice. I asked the Minister how many complaints had been lodged to date—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I would have thought that a better answer could be given as to the number rather than answer “very few” given the time the Minister has had to prepare the answer. Is the Hon Gerry Brownlee going to add to his answer?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I was simply pointing out that sometimes there is more to a question in the House than meets the eye. But I am happy to answer the question.Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is not actually a helpful point of order. The question was on notice. The question asked for the number of complaints that have been lodged. I would have hoped the Minister had time to prepare an answer to give that.Chris Hipkins: Point of order.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Mr Speaker.Mr SPEAKER: Which will we have first? We will have the answer then.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: There were 4900 out of 167000 in 2011; 7312 out of 167000 in 2012; 5612 out of 167000 in 2013; 3954 out of 167000 in 2014; 2525 in 2015 out of 167000; and 525 to date this year out of 167000 claims.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I would like you—and the Ministers in fact—to reflect on whether when a question is put on notice as Megan Woods has put something on notice and the Ministers clearly have that information as we have just demonstrated Mr Brownlee does it is reasonable to expect that they will give that information rather than giving a dismissive answer and then insulting the questioner.Mr SPEAKER: I think I have addressed that matter already in that the point was raised immediately by the questioner and quite legitimately so. I said that I did not think the answer was satisfactory. The Minister has now given that. I would certainly appreciate it if Ministers gave the information in the first place but how they choose to answer the question is in the first instance their responsibility. I can only move to tidy it up once I have heard the answer; I cannot anticipate an answer to a question.Dr Megan Woods: Does he think it is acceptable that sales of properties are falling through due to dodgy foundation repairs and those stranded homeowners are being told by the Earthquake Commission that they will have to wait months for an appropriate team to review the issue?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The member seeks an answer to what is by the way it is presented quite a hypothetical situation. What I can say is that the Earthquake Commission takes remedial repairs where they are required very seriously but they are not large in number given that there have been 167000 built-property claims in Christchurch. There are always reasons why properties that are in the process of being sold do not progress to a sale for one reason or another.Dr Megan Woods: I seek leave to table a file note from my office of a case where the sale of a property has fallen through this week because it failed a home inspection on a foundation repair by the Earthquake Commission.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Names and addresses?Dr Megan Woods: I sought leave to table the file note.Mr SPEAKER: I will put the leave and the House can decide. Leave is sought to table that particular file note. Is there any objection? There is none.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Dr Megan Woods: I seek leave to table an email from the Earthquake Commission telling that same homeowner they will have to wait months for a team to assess their issue.Mr SPEAKER: Leave is sought to table that particular email. Is there any objection? There is none. It can be tabled.Document by leave laid on the Table of the House.Dr Megan Woods: How many more remedial requests does the Earthquake Commission expect to receive and how long will those claimants have to wait?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: I think the first point I would like to make is that the Earthquake Commission is receiving those complaints and is acting upon them. One of the reasons why we progressed to the managed repair programme was so that people would have somewhere to go when these circumstances arose. The numbers out of 167000 claims are small. We would hope to get to all of those people as quickly as possible but there is no standing army outside the Canterbury Home Repair Programme and as the 900 or so houses that are left in that programme are concluded then work will progress on those other matters.Dr Megan Woods: Does he think it is acceptable that the Earthquake Commission did not front up and tell the public the real reason thousands of drain repairs in Canterbury had to be reassessed was the initial inspections were of “variable quality” or is that just code for “dodgy”?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The member over there repeatedly uses words like that to try to discredit the Earthquake Commission. What she forgets is that this has been a long seismic event: 13000 earthquakes 67 over 5 on the Richter scale. An assessment done at the start of that process would be very different if done at the end of it. If the member cannot work that out I suggest that she is a dodgy member and should not be in the House. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! I am going to ask the member to withdraw the last comment about the member.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: I withdraw; she has certainly got every right to be in the House.Mr SPEAKER: No. We are just going to have the withdrawal of the epithet.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: I withdraw the full remark.Dr Megan Woods: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I asked the Minister a pretty straight question: I asked him whether he thought—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! No. The member was very lucky that I allowed the question to stand. It was a question full of innuendo; the Minister certainly addressed it in light of the way the question was asked.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. There have been instances where members on this side of the House have been asked to withdraw and apologise and have faced a much more serious reprimand for adding additional comments at the end of that and—Mr SPEAKER: Order! That is getting very dangerously close to being a criticism of the Speaker. I determine the remedy I will take. I determine whether I will be asking for a withdrawal. I determine whether it is a withdrawal and an apology or I may even ask the member to leave the House. On this occasion when the word was used by the member herself in asking the question I took the action I did. I am quite comfortable with the action I took and I do not expect to then be criticised by Chris Hipkins for it.Dr Megan Woods: When there are tens of thousands of complaints not just a few; when people are blocked from selling their houses and cannot move on with their lives because of botched repairs; and when the Earthquake Commission refuses to front up with the facts will he finally admit that things are a mess and undertake an independent inquiry into the Earthquake Commission?Mr SPEAKER: Before I call the Minister if it is a political answer that is given that will be perfectly acceptable in light of the question that was asked.Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: Mr Speaker I am above that sort of thing as you know. I will give a straight answer. The member will be deeply disappointed to know that her claims of tens of thousands of complaints etc. leave us now—because the Earthquake Commission deals with those complaints and because the Earthquake Commission is a place to go if you have got complaints there are only 700 or so currently open and many of those are in a state of being repaired. The member is trying to make menace where it does not exist in order to promote the opportunities for Dr Duncan Webb the Labour Party candidate—Mr SPEAKER: Order! We do not need to go that far.