Housing Minister Phil Twyford’s comments that 200 people have had their eligibility for methamphetamine compensation confirmed is at odds with Housing New Zealand (HNZ), which says not one case has been completed.
Labour MP, Phil Twyford Minister of Transport, Housing and Urban Development Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The minister told RNZ that he had been advised that HNZ had already confirmed eligibility for 200 of the 800 tenants evicted from their homes over flawed methamphetamine testing.
“I can guarantee that everybody who has had their eligibility confirmed now, which is about 200 people, will have the payments made by Christmas.”
But HNZ said only 43 cases were in “progress” and told Checkpoint that didn’t necessarily mean those people were eligible – it just meant their claims for compensation were progressing.
The agency said it has had 198 “contacts” regarding its Methamphetamine Assistance Programme, but not all would be in the scope of the programme.
A ‘contact’ refers to an engagement, such as a phone call, so if one person had called five times then that would result in five ‘contacts’.
Mr Twyford announced last month that the government would compensate people affected by the evictions, and it is estimated they would be reimbursed an average of $2500 to $3000.
Checkpoint revealed on Monday that a law change would likely be needed before any compensation was paid, otherwise it would be treated as a cash asset and would affect beneficiaries’ payments from Ministry of Social Development.
Mr Twyford declined to speak to Checkpoint, which wanted him to clarify where he got his numbers from. One of his staff told Checkpoint the minister didn’t have the numbers and to get them from HNZ instead.
