United New Zealand leader, Hon Peter Dunne, says the Government is dragging the chain on earthquake preparedness.

He says answers to Parliamentary Questions reveal an "appalling lethargy" in terms of the Government's actions in promoting tough earthquake standards.

He says:

• The Government has yet to decide whether to act on recommendations from the Building Industry Authority to the previous Government for tougher standards for commercial buildings, let alone when these might be implemented. (Written Question 13364)
• The Government has no idea which territorial authorities are taking sufficient earthquake preparedness steps and which are not. (Written Question 13365)

"This is disgraceful - a time-bomb waiting to explode."

"Even worse than the lack of information is the Government's apparent lack of real interest in doing something about promoting stronger earthquake standards."

"Dragging the chain like this is unacceptable and irresponsible in a earthquake high risk country like ours."

"At the very least, the Government should be acting urgently on the Building Industry Authority's recommendations, and should be actively monitoring the performance of local authorities in this vital area of public safety and letting the public know which areas are safe and which are not."

"Because of the Government's failure in this regard, I will now be approaching all local authorities to obtain the information under the Official Information Act so that I can inform people which buildings in their area are safe and which are not," Mr Dunne says.

ENDS