Street Maryan: Affordable Housing: Enabling Territorial Authorities Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
Street Maryan: Affordable Housing: Enabling Territorial Authorities Bill — Second Reading In Committee Third Reading 
[Volume:649;Page:18485] 
Hon MARYAN STREET (Minister of Housing) 
: 
 I rise to take a short call simply because of the inanity that we have been hearing from members on the other side of the Chamber which clearly shows that an understanding of the really significant issues around affordable housing seems to elude the Opposition members. John Carter said earlier that the significant word in this bill was “if”. He is absolutely right. The Affordable Housing: Enabling Territorial Authorities Bill is voluntary; it is voluntary for territorial local authorities. If it is not to be voluntary then I would ask Mr Carter what the alternatives are. If it is not to be voluntary then would the National prefer that it be compulsory? That is one of the options. The National Party says it would not like to make the legislation compulsory and certainly we do not wish to make it compulsory because we know the territorial authorities do not want that. 
What other choices are available? If National does not want this legislation to be mandatory and does not want it to be voluntary the third choice is to do nothing. And that is what I hear coming from the Opposition in every discussion about affordable housing. I hear it say we should do nothing about affordable housing. I hear the Opposition say we should do nothing about the people who by now ought to be in a position to be able to afford their first house except that in the last 5 years the price of houses in the market has escalated by some 80 percent—80 percent. So a number of measures are required in order to make sure first-home buyers once again have a chance to get into the housing market. One of the options that has been put up is this bill. It is a voluntary bill; it does not mean that territorial authorities have to go into anything. 
But I can give members a very good example back—[ 
Interruption 
] It is clear those members are not interested in answers. Mr Heatley asked a moment ago about whether this bill was relevant to the Queenstown Lakes District Council which was in fact in the process of putting out affordable houses anyway. Well I just draw that member’s attention to some current affairs that I would have thought one of his colleagues the member for that area could tell him about. However she has not done so. The fact is that the Queenstown Lakes District Council is currently being taken to court by a developer for trying to do this kind of thing without having the legislative backing to be able to do it. Now let us hear some of the responses on that. Let us hear some of the ignorant comments that have come out from the Opposition be tempered with a little fact. This bill is needed because local authorities are actually being taken to court by developers for trying to provide affordable housing within residential developments. 
In the brief time I have left available to me I will give members a couple of other examples. I understand that Tasman District Council has recently voted against putting together an affordable housing plan which it had voluntarily decided to put up to its council members. It has chosen to vote against that. Right next door I understand the Nelson City Council has put aside $40000 because it wishes to put a plan together. It is allocating some funding in order to put an affordable housing plan together. I would suggest that the Nelson City Council is likely to benefit from having an affordable housing plan to the detriment of Tasman District Council right next door which may choose not to have such a plan. 
If councils have that opportunity and that choice then where is the Opposition’s problem? I will tell the Committee what the problem is: we need more affordable housing in this country. And one of the things needed in order for that to happen is this bill. Tax cuts will not do it. The tax cuts proposed by the National Party will be eaten up by Maurice Williamson’s tolls on roading every week.