9. Earthquake Commission—Internal Reporting Systems and Remedial RepairsDr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) to the Prime MinisterEarthquake Commission—Internal Reporting Systems and Remedial Repairs9. Dr MEGAN WOODS (Labour—Wigram) to the Prime Minister: Does he have confidence in the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE (Acting Prime Minister): On behalf of the Prime Minister yes. [Interruption]Dr Megan Woods: Does he—Mr SPEAKER: Order! I just want to hear you you see so I am waiting for a bit of hush.Dr Megan Woods: Thank you. Does he believe that Cantabrians having to sue the Earthquake Commission (EQC) 263 times since the 2010 earthquakes began at a cost to the taxpayer of $31 million is a good use of taxpayer money and a sign of success for people wanting to move on with their lives?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: This Government is not going to deny anybody their rights to claim what they think they are entitled to through the court system. What is salient here of course is that there has been no success experienced by anybody in any of that litigation other than the EQC. So given that the EQC protects the entire obligation of the wider taxpayer it is totally appropriate.Dr Megan Woods: What was the Minister's explanation of the robustness of record-keeping and accounting processes at the EQC given that it discovered 2200 or nearly 40 percent more remedial repair requests in its self-titled bungle?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: On behalf of the Prime Minister I am informed that the Minister was not overly concerned by this for two reasons. Firstly there were no repairs of this nature that were unattended. They were simply not accounted for in an appropriate fashion and that matter is now being dealt with. The second point that I think is worth considering is that anybody who does have an issue in Canterbury with an EQC repair does have a place to go to make that complaint. Had the EQC exercised as the Act allowed it to the opportunity to simply pay out cheques on the basis of its assessment of damage those people would not have had that same recourse. It is also important to note that the call-back rate on EQC repairs is dramatically lower than it is on new builds. It is a very successful programme.Dr Megan Woods: Has he seen examples of other Ministers losing nearly 40 percent of a data set from their internal reporting systems or is the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission currently winning the botched systems award?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: The member is trying to make an issue out of something where no issue exists. The reality is that those repairs were in the programme. They were being dealt with. There was a data mismatch between Fletcher EQR and EQC. The fact that it was found would indicate that the system is robust.Dr Megan Woods: Has he asked the Minister whether he is sufficiently annoyed" to finally call for an independent inquiry into EQC and get to the bottom of this mess?Hon GERRY BROWNLEE: On behalf of the Prime Minister I am extremely satisfied with the way the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission is handling that portfolio. It is quite frankly outstanding and I wish the Opposition would take some lessons from him in terms of how it might itself make assessments about its contribution to Parliament's work."