Dyson Ruth: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDyson Ruth: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations and State Enterprises — In Committee[Sitting date: 17 June 2014. Volume:699;Page:18545. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon RUTH DYSON (Labour—Port Hills):Can I first of all say that it is blindingly obvious to anyone that the Earthquake Commission has faced a big job and it is in no one’s interest to do as the current member for Christchurch Central did and assume that challenges to the current system are a proposal to get rid of the Earthquake Commission. That is a nonsense conclusion that Nicky Wagner reached and I know that nobody is proposing that. But we cannot deny the fact that the level of arrogance bullying and incompetence displayed by the Earthquake Commission is having anything other than a negative impact on residents in Canterbury. I think the same goes for the Minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission actually. Nobody has denied that the Minister who has got several portfolios—perhaps two too many—has got a big job in front of him. Nobody is arguing about that. But it does not mean that when somebody challenges it questions it or says that this is clearly not going right we should be subject to bullying or abuse. That shows a level of being out of touch with what people in Canterbury are going through.I want to touch on just three points briefly. The first is the self-imposed time frame that the Earthquake Commission has set for settling claims. The second is its method of cash settlements and the concerns I have about that. The third is in relation to multi-unit dwellings. I think that people in Canterbury deserve certainty they deserve support and they need to know that the Government and Government departments and agencies of Government are on their side and working for a positive resolution of the huge tragedy that everyone has felt in one way or another. It has affected different people in different ways; everyone in Canterbury has been affected by the earthquakes. What they need now is a Government that is clearly on their side and that can help them move to a positive solution and outcome.Let me go back to the first of the three points—the self-imposed time frame. Ian Simpson has written to us all again. He is the chief executive of the Earthquake Commission. He has just written to us and said: “I’ve made a commitment to you to fix your home or settle your claim by December of this year.” Then he says: “While I’m confident of our 2014 target if we have to run into 2015 we’ll do so.” Well that is hugely reassuring. We are committed to fixing everything by the end of 2014 but if we do not make it we go into next year. Well what a reassurance that is! This is in writing from the chief executive. That gives us no reassurance Minister and I think you should be on his case and on the case of the chair of the Earthquake Commission to give us correspondence and give us time frames that mean something or stop wasting the stamps. This sort of dribble does not help anyone.The second thing I want to talk about is cash settlements. In this same letter Ian Simpson says: “We will not be using large-scale cash settlement to meet our December target. We will continue fixing homes until the job’s done.” That is just untrue. The Earthquake Commission is bullying people including the most vulnerable people into taking cash settlements and I think it is an outrage and it is about time that Minister Gerry Brownlee stood up to its bullying tactics and said that cash settlements should be an offer not a compulsion and people who do not want to opt out should not be bullied into doing it. I have got two examples. One is a 95-year-old constituent of mine who still has plywood cladding on the outside of her home—a well-under-cap multi-unit dwelling—and the house next door is going to be demolished. She has been told in writing that the Earthquake Commission has yet to develop its policy on multi-unit dwelling so she is going into her fourth winter in an unclad home and it is cold Mr Brownlee. It is just cold. She is not blaming you. She is pretty generous but I think that the buck stops with the Minister and she should not have to do that. She has been told she can cash settle or join a very long queue. She is 95 years of age. She is competent. She is able. But it is the Earthquake Commission’s job to fix her house not hers.I have got another example that I will just briefly read out to the Committee. This is from a senior claims manager at the Earthquake Commission who says to a person who does not want to cash settle: “I will again insert our rights to cash settle” and quoting section 29 of the Act. A bullying threat to cash settle not an offer is not good enough Mr Brownlee. The Minister needs to take responsibility for stopping that practice.