Labour's Bill would not have saved Emma-Lita Bourne

Labour has used the extremely sad death of toddler Emma-Lita Bourne as a reason for introducing their Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill, which passed its first reading last night.

While well intentioned, Labour’s Bill would not have saved Emma-Lita, who died from a pneumonia related blood clot in her brain. The Coroner said this was an extremely rare and unpredictable medical event. He did not say that the condition of the house was the cause of her death, but said he "could not exclude the cold, damp condition of the Housing New Zealand home, during winter months, as a contributing factor."

The fact is that Emma-Lita's home was insulated, had heating and even a ventilation system. The Coroner acknowledged the heater and said that "unfortunately the high electricity costs made it impossible to use within the family's budget".

Although there is little detail in Labour's Bill, it would appear that Emma-Lita's home would have met the requirements.

If we as a society are to help people like Emma-Lita Bourne, then compulsory heat pumps are not the answer. Some families cannot afford to pay for electricity and the cost of compulsory heat pumps will only push up rental prices and make it even harder for them to use their heaters.

“Rather than making them compulsory, the NZPIF believes that allowing them to be tax deductible or providing subsidies for them would be a better strategy.” says Andrew King, Executive Officer of the NZ Property Investors’ Federation. “ This would reduce the pressure for rental prices to increase.”

“In addition”, says King, “we believe that families such as that of Emma-Lita Bourne’s should be provided electricity vouchers during the winter months so they can turn their heater on. This may have saved her.”

“We need solutions that focus on the real problems and those in real need.”

ENDS

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