King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
King Annette: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Sitting date: 23 May 2012. Volume:680;Page:2313. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
9. 
Hon ANNETTE KING (Labour—Rongotai) 
 to the  
Minister of Housing 
: Does he stand by all his statements on housing? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON (Minister for Building and Construction) 
 on behalf of the Minister of Housing: Yes as long as they have been taken in context. 
Hon Annette King 
: Does he still stand by his statement that Housing New Zealand Corporation clients receive a good service that is getting better “week after week after week”; and if so how does he account for the fact that people are now waiting 48 minutes before someone answers his 0800 smarter faster phone service—up from 25 minutes just 2 weeks ago according to his own staff? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: It does become very difficult to answer supplementary questions when the primary question is as broad as whether he stands by all his statements. But I can say— 
Hon Phil Goff 
: You don’t know. You’ve got no answer. 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: Unlike what Phil Goff is calling out I do have an answer. The Minister has made it clear to the Housing New Zealand Corporation that its current performance on the 0800 number is unsatisfactory. He has clearly communicated to it that he expects the service to be dramatically improved. The Housing New Zealand Corporation has responded by making it its top priority to fix.  
Hon Annette King 
: Well in light of that answer how can it be consistent with getting better? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: I think I just made it clear it is going to be made better because a very clear direction has been given to the Housing New Zealand Corporation to improve the performance of the 0800 number. 
Hon Annette King 
: If the service is getting better “week after week after week” why is Ms Hayes from Dunedin mother of three children under 5 still waiting for her fireplace to be put back in a month after it was ripped out leaving a gaping hole in her lounge and leading to her 6-month-old baby being admitted to hospital with bronchiolitis; and does that sound to him like a better service? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: I have to say that nothing in all the combinatorics or permutations of answers that I have got refers to Mrs Hayes of Dunedin. 
Hon Annette King 
: Does he think the Minister is on top of his portfolio bearing in mind he forgot that he had promised 100 Gateway houses at Hobsonville in 2009 30 such houses in 2010 and delivered 17 in 2012; forgot that he said that 600 houses in Christchurch that were damaged were in the red zone when they were not; and announced the same funding for social policy housing in five different ways over a 6-day period? 
Hon MAURICE WILLIAMSON 
: No matter how many times the member says something it does not make it right. The Minister of Housing never committed to 100 Gateway houses. There is nothing on record as ever committing to 100. What he did say in a number of interviews at the time was that he believed that up to 100 houses may be built under the scheme.  
Hon Annette King 
: I seek leave to table a letter from Clare Curran member of Parliament from Dunedin South—[ 
Interruption 
]  
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! A point of order is being heard.  
Hon Annette King 
: —who wrote to me regarding Ms Hayes and sets out that she waited over 30 minutes for Housing New Zealand Corporation to answer her phone call on Friday and was still waiting on Monday for it to take any action for this woman.  
Mr SPEAKER 
: Leave is sought—[ 
Interruption 
] Order! It is a point of order. Leave is sought to table that document. Is there any objection? There is objection. Question No. 10 Brendan Horan. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! I have called Brendan Horan. [ 
Interruption 
] Order! I say to both front benches: please respect for a colleague at the back of the House.