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Phil Twyford: State house tenants evicted over meth contamination to be compensated
At least 2400 tenants who were evicted from state houses because of meth contamination are set to receive compensation and a formal apology from Housing New Zealand.
The Government announced on Monday that the first 55 people have been paid $8000, while another 92 have had claims approved.
The process is estimated to cost between $4 and $5 million and will be funded entirely by Housing New Zealand.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford told Mike Hosking the tenants who were evicted didn't receive any justice.
"There was often no proper evidence, no baseline testing so they were unable to show whether or not a particular tenant had been responsible."
"On top of all that and at the heart of this issue, there was a bogus meth standard for contamination based on third-hand residue of methamphetamine that has been shown to be totally lacking in any scientific basis."
"Some of them were made homeless, many had their possessions destroyed without any proper evidence and so that's wrong."
"The government got it wrong, people got hurt, proper processes and natural justice were not followed and we are putting it right."
He said without baseline testing the government had no way of knowing which tenant was responsible for meth residue.
He reiterated that nobody who has been convicted of manufacturing or dealing methamphetamine from their house would be getting any compensation.
However, Twyford didn't comment on whether people with convictions for meth use would be receiving compensation.
He said the review into the situation found it was mishandled and this is about the government fronting up and putting it right.
"The review that I commissioned, a detailed probe into exactly how Housing New Zealand handled this whole debacle, showed that there was no proper natural justice, there was no proper evidence.
The Minister said nobody is blaming Housing New Zealand staff because they were just following the rules at the time.
"They were implementing the policies of the time. What Housing New Zealand has recognised is that they took a tough, zero tolerance approach to this thing and put that together with the fact that there was no decent scientific basis for the meth standard, that's why we had this whole debacle."
Twyford said the real culprits are the previous government.
"The real culpability lies with the former government who allowed this fiasco to go on for years. They could have called in decent scientific advice at any point and they never did."
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By Newstalk ZBAt least 2400 tenants who were evicted from state houses because of meth contamination are set to receive compensation and a formal apology from Housing New Zealand.
The Government announced on Monday that the first 55 people have been paid $8000, while another 92 have had claims approved.
The process is estimated to cost between $4 and $5 million and will be funded entirely by Housing New Zealand.
Housing Minister Phil Twyford told Mike Hosking the tenants who were evicted didn't receive any justice.
"There was often no proper evidence, no baseline testing so they were unable to show whether or not a particular tenant had been responsible."
"On top of all that and at the heart of this issue, there was a bogus meth standard for contamination based on third-hand residue of methamphetamine that has been shown to be totally lacking in any scientific basis."
"Some of them were made homeless, many had their possessions destroyed without any proper evidence and so that's wrong."
"The government got it wrong, people got hurt, proper processes and natural justice were not followed and we are putting it right."
He said without baseline testing the government had no way of knowing which tenant was responsible for meth residue.
He reiterated that nobody who has been convicted of manufacturing or dealing methamphetamine from their house would be getting any compensation.
However, Twyford didn't comment on whether people with convictions for meth use would be receiving compensation.
He said the review into the situation found it was mishandled and this is about the government fronting up and putting it right.
"The review that I commissioned, a detailed probe into exactly how Housing New Zealand handled this whole debacle, showed that there was no proper natural justice, there was no proper evidence.
The Minister said nobody is blaming Housing New Zealand staff because they were just following the rules at the time.
"They were implementing the policies of the time. What Housing New Zealand has recognised is that they took a tough, zero tolerance approach to this thing and put that together with the fact that there was no decent scientific basis for the meth standard, that's why we had this whole debacle."
Twyford said the real culprits are the previous government.
"The real culpability lies with the former government who allowed this fiasco to go on for years. They could have called in decent scientific advice at any point and they never did."