He has already released lists of 343 earthquake risk buildings in Wellington and Hutt Cities, and today he has made information available about Invercargill and Bluff commercial buildings.

He had obtained the information from the Invercargill City Council under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act.

Mr Dunne says the Invercargill City Council has advised him that only three Invercargill commercial buildings meet the accepted earthquake standards, set out in the Building Act 1991.

"The Council has advised me that:

"The majority of buildings in the commercial centre would probably be considered unsafe by current earthquake standards for new buildings, as would all commercial buildings in Bluff.""

"I say it is in the public interest that people know which buildings in their area are unsafe, which is why I am making this information public."

"People will draw their own conclusions about the level of risk they face and what action they should take, but at least they will now have the public information to do so," he says.

Mr Dunne says he is extremely concerned so many Invercargill and Bluff buildings are earthquake risks.

"We like to think we are making great progress in earthquake preparedness, but these figures are a sharp reminder about how much more work needs to be done for us to be truly well-prepared."

"These figures are a wake-up call the community and the Council cannot ignore," he says.

Mr Dunne is presently gathering information from local authorities around New Zealand on earthquake risk buildings.

ENDS