Bennett Paula: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Bill — In Committee 
Bennett Paula: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:636;Page:7172] 
PAULA BENNETT (National) 
: 
 I would like the Minister for Building and Construction Clayton Cosgrove to take a call. It is a very important question that National is putting forward. How many claims does the Minister think will be settled once the changes proposed in the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Bill have gone through and are implemented next year? 
As we say the current legislation has not been working. That has been evident just in the numbers if we look at those. As we have previously stated only 7.6 percent of claims have been settled. Even if those claims that have been withdrawn are added the percentage is only 20 percent. So National members would be interested to hear the Minister say how these changes will increase the number of settlements and more important how those homes will be fixed. It is one thing to be making more settlements and hopefully making those settlements speedier but how is the Government going to follow through and ensure those leaky homes are fixed? 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: They use the money from the settlement to employ someone to build the house. They use the money. It is simple economics. 
PAULA BENNETT 
: How is the Government going to guarantee that? How is it going to guarantee that that money is—and it is not at times—actually used for fixing the homes? I know that the Minister is hoping the land information memorandum notification will fix some of that but National members have huge concerns as to what it will actually do. One of the things that we tried to get through the Social Services Committee was the requirement to have a trail of evidence going through the land information memorandum report so that if it had to be notified there would be a trail of evidence that repairs had then been made. Some of that real dilemma is created by retrospectively forcing the disclosure of claims on to land information memorandum reports. What does that mean for those many homeowners who have made claims on the basis that claims would not be disclosed? Has consideration of that been taken? 
The other thing I would like the Minister to take a call on—and it is quite a serious question—is what happens if one has had a private assessor’s report done finds that there is a leak but decides to sell and not take a claim to the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. There is nothing in the bill that requires an owner to declare the water entry or the damage in that case. The bill states that that must happen only if a claim has been taken. So where is the protection—if that is what it is really about—for the homebuyer if the seller has not taken a claim? I would be interested in hearing from the Minister in the chair the Hon Clayton Cosgrove who is furiously taking notes—I presume on what we are saying—so that he can address that. 
There are so many issues that go on. The simple case is that everyone here is saying that the bill does not go far enough. The Minister himself addressed that at times saying that it will hopefully make the process a bit speedier but acknowledging that it will not fix the problem. Perhaps the Minister would like to take a call and give people a bit of a heads-up on the changes he plans to make—if of course he is still in the job because we are up to Minister No. 7 looking after leaky homes in just 4 years. 
Hon Member 
: Eh? 
PAULA BENNETT 
: Yes we are up to Minister No. 7 in just 4 years. He could let us know what changes he may perhaps be thinking of making next year if he is still in that role—if we are not up to Minister No. 8—to address those very serious issues. Perhaps the Minister could stand up and be counted and make a real difference for those homeowners. Perhaps he could show them that he actually gives a damn by doing something worthwhile. Perhaps he could put a fund together and make it substantial so that people can see some difference. 
Perhaps he could offer an interest-free loan to give those people money so that they can fix the problem. Half the problem when they go to mediation is that they do not know how much it will cost to repair the building and do everything; they do not know that until the building starts to be pulled down. They go to mediation saying “We think it’s going to cost X amount of dollars.” and they may settle and get X amount of dollars but when the repairs are done they find the price is double that. 
 They again lose out. They are losing out in not getting legal costs they are losing out in not knowing how much the repairs will cost they are losing out because the banks are not lending them money to get the repairs done before they go to mediation and they are losing out because their homes lose value by the day. They are left holding something that is unfixable and they have a Government that is not taking the matter as seriously as it needs to. 
Perhaps the Minister will take a call about looking at having a building court with real expertise so that people have one place they can go to get the answers and get their cases heard in a truly efficient manner. Perhaps the Minister can tell those homeowners how he thinks this bill will help to solve their problems.