MP Dalziel ‘hurt’ by Brownlee’s comments

Labour MP Lianne Dalziel has hit back at suggestions that she questioned the fairness of red-zone offers for personal gain.

A spat erupted last week when Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee suggested his Labour counterpart was ‘‘grumpy’’ over not getting more taxpayer money for her red-zoned Christchurch property.

Ms Dalziel had quizzed him about whether he shared Prime Minister John Key’s concerns that some residents would be out of pocket by more than $150,000 through the Government’s buyout offers.

Mr Brownlee said he was ‘‘deeply troubled’’ by the question raised by Ms Dalziel, whose Bexley home was red-zoned last year, because she had a ‘‘personal concern about how much she was being paid’’.

‘‘In [Ms Dalziel’s] case, we know the difficulty. She is being offered $87,200 for her land; she wants $200,000,’’ he said. ‘‘She made that clear at the local government and environment committee, but it is not easy just to put a hand in the taxpayers’ pocket and pay it out to members of Parliament who are grumpy about the money being offered to them.’’

Ms Dalziel said yesterday that Mr Brownlee’s comments were premeditated and ‘‘demeaning of his position as minister . . . He knew the date of my speech in the House and he knew that I had mentioned my section price at a select committee hearing, so he was obviously prepared before he came to the House to do this. I’m still at a loss to understand why he treated me so poorly.’’

Ms Dalziel also said she had never used her position to argue for her personal situation and had been comparing market values to the Government’s offer she had accepted. She was ‘‘one of the lucky ones’’, despite losing about $50,000 by accepting the land-only offer.

‘‘I am not complaining and I’m not asking for anything more. I feel so hurt by this. It’s absolutely knocked me for six. Maybe I’m just the unfortunate victim, but it was too well prepared for [Mr Brownlee] not to know the damage it would do to my reputation.’’

Mr Brownlee said Ms Dalziel’s claims were ‘‘outrageous’’, but he did not want to comment further.