Government's Discriminatory Red Zone Offer Undermines Human Rights &
Civil Rights

After 3 years of legal battle the government has now agreed to make full
offers to commercial and vacant land owners whose properties were
illegally red-zoned. However it decided to single out self-insured
homeowners and offers nothing for their homes.

The government has committed violations against UN's Universal
Declaration of Human Rights Article 17(b) - No one shall be arbitrarily
deprived of his property.

The government also violates UN's ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights) Article 12(1) - Everyone lawfully within the
territory of a State shall, with that territory, have the right to
liberty of movement and freedom to choose his residence.

Quake Outcasts members say this is deliberate discrimination against
vulnerable people. Despite the recent Supreme Court ruling which stated
that "we do not consider that the insurance status of properties in the
red zone should have been treated as determinative when deciding that
there should be a differential..." (See Section 167 of Supreme Court
Judgment SC5/2014 [2015] NZSC 27), the government still uses insurance
status to single out some property owners.

From day-one of the June 2011 red zoning announcement the government has
embarked on a campaign of intimidation, coercion, and deception. It
withheld crucial information, delayed normal recovery processes, and
hoodwinked vulnerable homeowners into a "Hobson's Choice" to sell to the
Crown.

Its continuing rhetoric on "taxpayer's money" against the Quake Outcasts
was nowhere to be heard when bailing out failing high-risk financial
firms to the tune of hundreds of millions. The government never asked
"the taxpayer" for their opinion when deciding to bail out the failing
insurance company AMI.

When it unlawfully declared a "residential red zone" without asking the
taxpayer nor affected residents, the government committed itself to an
irreversible course.

We condemn this government's actions. No doubt history will record them
as one of the worst scandals in modern times.

ENDS

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