Revealed: Earthquake Commission spent $68m on travel

The devastating 2010 Christchurch earthquake. Photo / Geoff Sloan

It has been revealed the Earthquake Commission has spent a whopping $68 million on travel-related costs in the aftermath of the devastating 2010 Christchurch earthquake.

Documents released to Fairfax Media under the Official Information Act show a break-down of millions spent by the EQC in almost four years.

Accommodation and food costs for staff travelling in and out of the city amounted to $38m, while $20m was spent on vehicles, $8.2m on airfares and more than $880,000 on taxis and parking costs, Fairfax reported.

EQC staff numbers in Christchurch increased from 22 before the September 2010 earthquake to more than 1000 in 2011.

EQC chief executive Ian Simpson said in a statement issued to the Herald that while the commission was "working hard in Canterbury", it was a national organisation with offices in Wellington, Christchurch and Hamilton.

"The travel costs as provided in the Official Information Act response cover the cost of all staff between EQC's three offices associated with its Canterbury response work.

"EQC has a sizeable presence in Canterbury and some of the travel costs reflect the need of Canterbury-based staff to travel in the course of their work."

The commission had settled approximately $8.8 billion in claims related to the Canterbury earthquakes, Mr Simpson said.

"The scale of the work in Canterbury means that EQC has had to look beyond Canterbury for some of the expertise it requires, especially given the strong demand for workers in Canterbury.

"As well, some of EQC's work in Canterbury is carried out in other centres to ensure business continuity in case any one site has to shut down because of another event or some other disruption."

A spokesman for Earthquake recovery minister Gerry Brownlee said EQC's budget was "an operational matter for EQC", but the figures should be "seen in the context of the extraordinary events of recent years in Canterbury".