Parties share views on ACC

Applause broke out at a forum on the topic of ACC in Dunedin on Saturday when the National Party's candidate for Dunedin North, Michael Woodhouse, agreed that an independent authority should be set up to deal with complaints against the corporation.

It broke out again when he agreed with Green MP Sue Bradford and Labour MP Pete Hodgson that there appeared to be a culture problem within ACC that needed to be confronted.

Candidates from the Labour, Green, Act, Alliance, National and Maori parties attended the forum hosted by Dunedin ACC claimants advocate group Acclaim Otago.

About 30 people, mostly members of Acclaim, listened as the parties explained their intentions for the ACC scheme and then took questions from the floor.

Green MP Sue Bradford was greeted with the most enthusiastic response as she outlined the Green party's policies aimed at changing "an insurance focused culture of meanness" at ACC.

The Green Party would fund independent advocacy agencies for ACC claimants, create an independent ACC ombudsman to take over the ACC's complaints investigation service and would strengthen the code of claimants' rights, Ms Bradford said.

All the political candidates agreed a fair system for compensation was required for all, no matter how they came by their disabilities - whether they were the result of an accident, illness or people were born with them - and their parties would consider options to rectify that.

National and the Act party have indicated they would partially or wholly privatise accident compensation if their parties were to become the next government.