Faafoi KrisKRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana): I grew up in a State house. It is something that I am very proud of and the fact that a number of Labour Governments sought to ensure that a family like mine could have an affordable home is something that I want to make sure I protect as a right for low-income Kiwi families. That is one of the fundamental reasons why I am here. The beauty of having that State home for me and my family was having an anchor in our community. It meant we were not moving around from school to school and it meant we got to know the neighbours well. We ended up becoming very close friends with neighbours and we had a sense of community. These kinds of things allegedly mean nothing to the National Government because not only is it speaking against security of tenure with private rentals we have seen its actions with State homes.That is why I commend this piece of legislation because it looks to give some of those simple things to families who are looking to rent homes. Whether the Government likes it or not there are a hell of a lot more people facing the reality of being lifetime renters. They cannot get themselves on the property ladder because house prices have gone up so much or it is so difficult for them to get a deposit that they face never being able to buy a home. I met someone in my community last week who admitted to me that although he and his wife were trying as hard as they could—and I do not want to say too much because I do not want to identify him because I visited him last week—they had given up to the fact that they were going to be lifetime renters.The National Government has spent tonight painting a picture of tenants as the worst possible kind of person that you could have: the people who leave rubbish behind and do not fulfil their obligations as good tenants. But there are a hell of a lot of people out there who are good tenants. There are a hell of a lot more people and that will grow. Unfortunately as long as this Government keeps the policy settings as they are good hard-working New Zealanders face the reality that they cannot buy a home. So in that respect more and more people need some protection. For that reason this is a great piece of legislation to make sure there is some security of tenure for those people who feel like perhaps—and yes most landlords are good but despite what their residential tenancy agreement says if a year after they get into it the market is so flooded with people wanting to get into homes they could find themselves in a situation where the landlord says: Actually out you get. I've got somebody else that can go in that home." That is what we need to make sure does not happen. It has to be enshrined in legislation to give some of those basic protections to tenants who are looking to sign up for a tenancy.Again I go back to my first point: a home is an anchor for a family. If they are not moving from community to community their kids are going to the same school. They are in the same class following their mates. They have got a local doctor. They have got a local sports club. They are feeling part of the community. Maybe their parents work in that community. That is the kind of thing that is the absolute building block of a good New Zealand family. If you do not have that—if you are moving around; if your child is going from class to class school to school which could happen if you do not have security of tenure then it is going to be harder for that child. It is going to be harder for that family to make what I think is a good start out in life.I think it is time for this Government to start looking after people who are struggling to make ends meet. It is not always people at the bottom of the heap on the lowest income; it is people on good incomes who are struggling to get a deposit together and therefore cannot buy a house. Like the person whom I met last week who was saying "Hey we're on good incomes but we've got family commitments to make and we can't rub a deposit together." So how about the Government thinks about those people and unfortunately there are more of them who need some protection to make sure that their families can be anchors in their communities so their families can have the start in life that I got and hopefully be successful. Why can the Government not do that?"