‘Coalface’ skills for EQC board

Earthquake Commission (EQC) Minister Megan Woods wants new board members with ‘‘coalface experience’’ who can speak for the public.

After appointing former Labour cabinet minister Dame Annette King as EQC’s interim chairwoman this week, Woods said she was looking for three new board members and a permanent chair.

King replaces outgoing chairman Sir Maarten Wevers, who resigned last week after Woods expressed dissatisfaction that 2600 EQC claims were unresolved seven years after the Canterbury earthquakes.

Woods said she had begun the process to find appointees to replace the board members whose terms were ending this year.

‘‘I’ve given an extremely strong signal with the appointment of Dame Annette, who has long been a battler for people,’’ she said.

‘‘In addition to the commercial, insurance and actuarial skills the board obviously requires, we will be appointing someone with a strong record of understanding how policy impacts on people’s lives.

‘‘I’m keen to see a broadening of skills to include people who have been at the coalface and understand the reality faced by those people at the coalface’’.

Woods would not fire any board members. She said she would make new appointments as existing members – actuary and research consultant Alison O’Connell, former Vero Insurance chief executive Roger Bell and Gordon Smith, with a background in banking and insurance management – completed their terms later this year.

Other board members MaryJane Daly, Tim Hurdle, and Paul Kiesanowski, were due to finish in mid-2019 or mid-2020.

Appointing a new chair could take up to six months, Woods said. The process would be managed by Treasury, which had also been asked to lead an independent audit of EQC claims. New independent ministerial adviser Christine Stevenson, appointed this week, was due to report back within two or three weeks, Woods said. Stevenson has been tasked with speeding up the resolution of EQC claims.

Asked if she would put a deadline on claim settlements, Woods said she did not wish to get ahead of the process and would consult Stevenson on what expectations were realistic.

Wevers told Stuff that despite the changes made by Woods, EQC would still have a tough job ahead.

‘‘Of course it is difficult, it is always going to be difficult. Staff have been working extremely hard and we were within a yard of finishing.’’ Wevers said he knew King well and believed she would do ‘‘a very good job’’ in her new role. In his resignation letter to Woods last week, Wevers said it was clear the minister had little confidence in the board and commission and did not recognise its ‘‘enormous progress’’ in ‘‘the most difficult of circumstances’’.

More than 99 per cent of claims were settled, his letter said, and he regretted being unable to continue.