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Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister and Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Gerry Brownlee says Labour’s policy of establishing a state-owned insurer is no different than its other half-formed ideas – it’s emotive, shows a hopeless grasp of economic realities, and raises questions Labour won’t be able to credibly answer.

“Labour might hate private insurance companies, but the reality is they’re paying for $20 billion of the Canterbury rebuild - twice New Zealand’s annual corporate tax take,” Mr Brownlee says.

Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Gerry Brownlee has today approved a restricted return to business for the EQC after confirmation that all necessary steps are being taken to protect customer privacy.

This comes after EQC staff worked over the Easter weekend with a team from the office of the Government Chief Information Officer, Colin MacDonald.

Mr Brownlee says he has given the go ahead for EQC’s claims settlement system and functions that allow the Commission to pay contractors in the Canterbury Home Repair Programme to resume.

Minister Responsible for the Earthquake Commission Gerry Brownlee has expressed his deep distress and concern at revelations in Parliament today about a further privacy breach of EQC’s system.

“We have been able to establish that a spreadsheet containing about 2200 names and information relating to stopped cheques, worth about $23 million, was inappropriately emailed to a member of the public.