Genter Julie Anne; Salesa JennyHon JULIE ANNE GENTER (Green): Tēnā koe Madam Speaker. Tēnā koutou e te Whare. The Green Party is supporting this bill. The previous speaker Tangi Utikere outlined a number of positive developments with this bill. As anyone who's lived in the Northern Hemisphere probably knows—most countries not all—it can be a bit of a shock to come to Aotearoa New Zealand and discover in the winter that it's colder inside than outside.Probably one of the things that motivated me to get involved in politics after immigrating to this beautiful country was the knowledge that our built environment could be so much better and that is something the Government absolutely can do something about. It's not very complicated. We know what the materials are that are needed to build energy efficient buildings. We know the standards and the science that delivers really high energy performance homes that don't cost much to heat but also have healthier environments quieter environments and better air quality. So many of our overloaded hospitals wouldn't be faced with the challenge that they're faced with if we had buildings that were warmer drier and healthier to live in. I know it's been a journey over the last decade or so to try and improve that but this particular bill looking at the regulation of building products and methods is really important to raise the bar and provide the information that's needed for builders to be able to improve the standards.For example a friend of mine who worked in passive houses back in Germany—and the passive house standard is simply a standard that applies to all buildings that means that it has a very healthy and quiet indoor environment it usually uses some mechanical ventilation and it usually needs no additional heating because just living in the building is enough to generate the heat to make it at a livable temperature. So although it might cost a little bit more to cost or design initially it ends up costing less over the life of the building—a lot less. And she said that when she came to New Zealand she was shocked because it was very easy to get information about the R-value of certain products that you were looking at like insulation products and that all of that was required to be published on the packaging of the products and that here in New Zealand there was no requirement for that information. So that is something that will certainly help inform the process to have that requirement for better disclosure of the materials themselves and their properties.There's still one outstanding aspect of this that I think is a lost opportunity. I know that the Minister discussed during committee stage that it would be possible through regulations to address it and that was an issue that was raised in a submission by the master plumbers association and that was around the mandatory third-party certification of tapware products that are used for drinking water. I think this isn't a widespread problem in New Zealand but it is a problem that the consequences of which are quite severe for the people effected potentially and so it's one that is really worth this House considering and the Government considering how they can ensure that we have a lead-free standard for our tapware products especially when they are delivering drinking water. That lead-free standard is one that Australia's moving towards and that the United States Canada and some countries in Europe have already implemented.The latest science on lead exposure demonstrates that there is no safe level of lead exposure and it's been many decades of winding back our use of lead in different industrial products. At times the impacts of this can be subtle but they can also be lifelong. So even a very small amount of lead exposure as a child can have lifelong consequences for IQ for depression and anxiety and for other factors. So that was not addressed in this bill and I feel a bit disappointed officials have decided not to go for a mandatory third-party certification system for all tapware products because if we don't have that independent third-party verification and it's just the supplier themselves signing off that it's good there's no way for consumers to be really confident that the products are in fact lead free. The master plumbers have found products that are available on Trade Me that are cheap they're available and they're leaching really unsafe levels of lead into drinking water for the people who end up purchasing those products.Already in Australia they have this mandatory third-party certification system so it's not something that would severely curtail the supply of products into New Zealand. And 80 percent of the products supplied into New Zealand are also going into Australia—they have mandatory third-party testing. I think it's a simple thing and the reality is if we don't have a structure like that then the whole system is undercut by the very small number of people who might be importing and selling unsafe products. And there's no way for plumbers themselves or for clients and for households—for people who are making improvements to their kitchen or buying a brand new kitchen there's no way for them to be certain that the water that they're drinking is safe. We have wider issues around water supply and making sure that it's not contaminated and is delivered safely. So I think this is a simple thing that I hope the Minister and the Government decide through regulations to implement a mandatory third-party certification system for those tapware products that are used for drinking water. Kia ora.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Hon Jenny Salesa): Malo le soifua.