Government plans to overhaul Earthquake Commission due to its mishandling of the Canterbury earthquakes

The Earthquake Commission (EQC) says it will change the way they manage disasters in response to a scathing report.

The Government has today approved a plan to overhaul the EQC due to its handling of the 2010 and 2011 Canterbury earthquakes.

A public inquiry found EQC was ill-equipped to deal with the Christchurch quakes, with a culture of bullying and favouritism.

Earthquake survivor Georgie Hanafin said she was fighting for repairs to her on-sold earthquake-damaged home.

"I feel like with EQC it's kind of a five steps back, two steps forward," she said.

"If they'd just listened to the thousands of people that were telling them they were feeling a certain way to begin with we wouldn't have gone down this track, we just wanted to be heard."

Earthquake Commission Minister Grant Robertson said the government is adamant no community should live through botched repairs and years of trauma following a natural disaster.

"This week marks 10 years since the Darfield-centred quake, which was the first in a series of devastating Canterbury earthquakes," he said.

"EQC was not prepared for the 469,431 claims it received following the claims.

"This is an important moment for the people of Canterbury to know their voices have been heard.

"They, and many others have lost faith in the system that was doomed to fail because of a lack of planning, resourcing, and expertise to deliver on what was being demanded of it."

Robertson said legislation is expected to be introduced in the middle of next year to modernise the EQC Act.

"The new Act will respond to many recommendations in the inquiry's report, providing certainty for claimants and agencies involved in responding to natural disaster."

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