Opposition on attack over leaky buildings

By FRANCESCA MOLD political reporter

The Opposition has accused the Government of trying to shift blame for the rotting homes crisis to the Building Industry Authority to protect itself from political damage.

Two boxes of papers released by the authority on Monday show it has been working on concerns about leaky houses for several years.

But Internal Affairs Minister George Hawkins claims he was not "formally informed" of the potential crisis by the BIA until April this year.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen has accused the authority of failing in its statutory duty to advise Mr Hawkins.

Mr Hawkins has written a "please explain" letter to the authority and warned it to stick to its "no surprises" agreement with the Government in future.

The Government came under attack from the Opposition in Parliament yesterday, for deflecting criticism of the poor handling of the leaky building issue to the authority.

National MP Wayne Mapp said claims the Government had been kept in the dark by the authority were misleading and had no credibility.

He also accused the Government of deliberately timing the writing of the letter criticising the BIA so it could ensure it was included in Monday's release on rotting homes.

"It is clear this letter was deliberately written late last week for release to the media with the BIA papers so that the Government could shift the blame for its inaction," said Dr Mapp.

He also questioned why the BIA had suspended its internal inquiry into staff actions a few weeks ago when the Government was now directly blaming it.

But National also came under attack yesterday for its involvement in the leaky homes crisis.

United Future MP Murray Smith said the building practices that gave rise to the crisis were public knowledge in 1998 when National was in Government.

"National's efforts to pin all the blame on the current Government are a case of the pot calling the kettle black," he said.

New Zealand First MP Brent Catchpole continued the Opposition attack on the Government, asking why Mr Hawkins had not asked for the resignation of the BIA members when he had the power to do so.

He suggested Mr Hawkins should also "do the honourable thing" and resign.

But Dr Cullen said that although the minister appoints the board, he was not responsible for its failure to give advice.

Act MP Deborah Coddington said Mr Hawkins had disregarded the authority and had not bothered to read a letter last year from building surveying firm Prendos managing director Greg O'Sullivan warning of a potential building crisis.

Dr Cullen said the authority had not given Mr Hawkins advice until April this year.

The Building Industry Authority did not want to comment on the claims by National yesterday. A spokeswoman for chairman Barry Brown said the authority would reply to Mr Hawkins' letter next week.

* If you have information about leaking buildings,
email the Herald or fax (09) 373-6421.

Further reading
Feature: Leaky buildings

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