Minister Does U-turn on Housing Inquiry

Thursday 19 Sep 2002 Deborah Coddington Press Releases -- Governance & Constitution

George Hawkins has obviously seen the error of his ways in ruling out an inquiry into the Weathertightness of Buildings in New Zealand, ACT Commerce Spokesman Deborah Coddington said today.

"Yesterday when I called for a Select Committee inquiry the Minister ruled it out.

"Just a few hours after I wrote to the Chairman of the Commerce Select Committee Mark Peck requesting an inquiry, the Government Administration Select Committee issued a press release stating that it would hold its own investigation.

"This is indeed a small victory. Though I am concerned that the inquiry will be a whitewash. The terms of inquiry do not mention compensation, and the wording `any other matters that the committee may consider appropriate' sounds suspicious.

"If compensation is considered `inappropriate to consider', will select committee members bar any submitter from mentioning their repair costs?

"There is no indication of a time-frame nor starting date. This inquiry needs to be underway quickly for two reasons: to restore faith in the building industry and to address the concerns of those people who, quite legitimately, complied with legal building requirements but now are left with substandard - and sometimes dangerous - houses," Miss Coddington said.

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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