Shirley Ken: Building Bill — In Committee 
Shirley Ken: Building Bill — In Committee 
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Hon KEN SHIRLEY (ACT) 
: 
 The member who just resumed his seat is suffering from severe delusions. I am sure he is genuine in what he said but it just exposes his delusions. He said this legislation is a clarion call in favour of the do-it-yourselfer. Nothing could be further from the truth. This bill absolutely dumps on the traditional Kiwi do-it-yourselfer. Far from being a clarion call it is a bell falling on their head. It is an outrage. The member said the bill will protect the greatest asset of the average Kiwi and his good folk in Waimakariri—Mike Moore’s battlers. He forgets that the building industry has been operating under a highly regulated regime. We already had all these registered plumbers builders local body building inspectors and their signed-off plans yet the leaky building syndrome happened under those regulations. It is actually a function of regulation. To suggest that somehow this bill with its new layer of heavy-handed regulation is the answer is deeply worrying. 
The speaker from the Green Party made an interesting contribution focusing on energy and saying that we had to have legislated insulation requirements up and down the country. That does not make sense either. The best way to get good insulation is to have proper pricing mechanisms in energy rather than just relying on the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority and public relations programmes. The best way is to think about the problem; whether Invercargill requires the same standard as Kaitaia. I do not think so. There are differences throughout the country. 
I would like to hear from the Minister in the chair the Hon John Tamihere. He is a good Kiwi battler and that is what we like about him. Let us hear about when he was running the Waipareira Trust and representing the good “westies”. What do they think about this bill? They would say it is an outrage. It stops them being that good Kiwi do-it-yourselfer; the red-blooded heterosexual—what was the rest of that saying? They are the very people whom this bill dumps on. It emasculates the good old red-blooded heterosexual Kiwi male. What does Mr Tamihere have to say about that? All the namby-pambies and his colleagues like Mr Cosgrove think it is wonderful but it is very very damaging to the traditional red-blooded heterosexual Kiwi “do-it-yourselfer” bloke ethos. 
We want to hear from Mr Tamihere on this. He speaks out about the subject but we want to hear from him in relation to the Building Bill. That is where the rubber hits the road. This bill is one of the most draconian heavy-handed regulatory frameworks that I have seen in this Parliament. 
Clayton Cosgrove 
: Looking after your mates. 
Hon KEN SHIRLEY 
: No it is not about looking after my mates. This bill introduces restrictive trade practices. Why do members think the building industry is welcoming it. I have spoken to chiefs of major construction companies and they said: “Philosophically we think it’s rubbish but we love it. We love it because this is all about restrictive trade practice and new entries.” 
This bill will slap more costs on for Kiwi battlers and make it more difficult for them to get into their first home. It is absolute bureaucratic pap. It is a misdiagnosis and a misanalysis of the leaky home syndrome. The Government wants to be seen to be doing something and as a typical Labour Party it can only think of heavy-handed regulation. It cannot think smarter. It takes the approach: “If there’s a problem make a law to ban it and somehow it will go away.” That has never worked. It is nonsense but that is what this bill is all about. 
Mr Cosgrove contradicted himself at every turn. Every time he uttered a new sentence he contradicted himself. He is not representing the battlers of Waimakariri; he is working against their interests. He is not protecting New Zealand society from rapacious industry people; he is actually protecting those rapacious industry people who are now locked in and have added protection.