Earthquake Commission's bill for fixing botched repairs blows out to $270 million

April 5, 2018
The Earthquake commission logo mounted on a wall.

The government's bill for fixing up botched earthquake repairs has hit $270 million - $200m more than was initially expected, it's been revealed.

The minister responsible for the Earthquake Commission, Megan Woods, says she's asked Treasury officials for urgent advice on the issue.

Today she announced that, as of this week, $170m had been spent re-repairing homes, with another $100m going into re-settling homes on which the initial repairs were cash settled.

"This is far beyond what the previous government told the public the issue would cost," she said, adding the original prediction was $70m.

"In opposition, we warned the government they were not acting fast enough on the issue of botched repairs."

The money covers additional fixes on homes that weren't originally repaired the first time or where the full extent of quake damage was originally missed.

The announcement comes as the government shakes up the commission in a bid to clear out the last remaining 2600 claims from the deadly 2011 Christchurch quake.

EQC chairman Sir Maarten Wevers suddenly resigned earlier this year after saying it was clear the "minister has no confidence in the board and staff of the commission".

Dame Annette King has been appointed interim chair with a mandate to speed up the resolution of outstanding claims and a review is under way.

"Blow-outs like this are why I have taken action to send in an independent ministerial advisor reporting directly to me to speed up the settling of EQC claims," Dr Woods said.

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