Fingers in their ears

Last year, the Human Rights Commission released a report, Monitoring Human Rights in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery, which found serious failures to uphold human rights - most notably the right to housing - in post-earthquake Christchurch. One of the key findings of the report - echoed regularly by media reports - was that "many people affected by the earthquakes continue to experience deteriorating standards of living and impacts on their quality of life that go beyond the immediate effects of the disaster".

Today in Question Time the government rejected that report and its findings:

DENIS O'ROURKE (NZ First) to the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: Does he accept the conclusion in the Human Rights Commission’s report Monitoring Human Rights in the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery that “many people affected by the earthquakes continue to experience deteriorating standards of living and impacts on their quality of life that go beyond the immediate effects of the disaster”?

Hon AMY ADAMS (Associate Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery) on behalf of the Minister for Canterbury Earthquake Recovery: No, the Minister does not accept this conclusion as there are considerable programmes of work under way to improve residential conditions in Christchurch.

Those "considerable programmes of work" are clearly inadequate. Three years on, we still have people without homes, waiting on EQC or their insurance companies for repairs. And the government's response is to say that everything is fine, and when people point to their lived experience to show that that is false, to try and bully them into silence. People are crying out for help, and they've got their fingers in their ears.

This isn't good enough. Christchurch needs a government which will listen. And they won't get it from National.