Street Maryan: General Debate 
Street Maryan: General Debate 
[Volume:633;Page:4990] 
MARYAN STREET (Labour) 
: 
 It is my pleasure to contribute to the debate this afternoon; I would like to get back to the business of governing and leading this country and improving the lives of its ordinary citizens because that is what this Labour-led Government has been doing. Despite whatever kinds of sideshows members opposite wish to entertain the business of governing leading and improving the lot of people in this country is what we on this side of the House are about. 
I would like to illustrate that by drawing the House’s attention to a number of announcements that have occurred recently in the last month or two that have been of initiatives that are either about to happen or about to give effect to some mechanisms that impact on many ordinary New Zealanders. For example we have recently announced the Welcome Home Loans scheme. From September it will reach double the proportion of the national housing market accessible to people without a deposit. That decision is part of the Labour-Progressive Government’s broader exploration of new ways to help reverse the decline in homeownership rates—to keep the front door open for first-time buyers. 
The Welcome Home Loans scheme underwrites private lenders to give home loans to people on the margins of traditional mortgage criteria. Although it has always been aimed at helping people looking at the lower rungs of the housing market the scheme’s usefulness has been cramped previously by a 55 percent rise in the lower quartile price of residential properties since it originally came into play. So in order to combat that we are increasing the limit for lending with no deposit from $150000 to $200000 and we are changing the minimum deposit required for lending over $200000 from 5 percent of the total loan value to 15 percent of that portion of the loan above the 100 percent lending limit. This means that a household can borrow $200000 without a deposit and can borrow up to $280000 in total under this scheme. That is hugely important to those people who aim to buy their first house to invest in their future and the future of their family and to stay committed to New Zealand society and to its development. 
On the same theme I tell members that we are approaching later today I think the third reading of the KiwiSaver Bill. Making the KiwiSaver scheme even more attractive for workers and employers is the aim of the changes to the KiwiSaver Bill announced this week. Under the voluntary KiwiSaver scheme employees contribute 4 percent or 8 percent of their gross salary for long-term savings and to kick-start returns for savers the Government is providing a $1000 contribution and paying some scheme fees. Employers will find the scheme easy to implement with extra Government support and compliance costs kept to a minimum. The scheme also provides for $5000 for each KiwiSaver to buy his or her first home. So we see a recurring theme. But more than that this KiwiSaver scheme aims to improve the long-term savings habits of New Zealanders and builds on our efforts to better prepare the country for the challenges of an ageing population. 
A couple of other things have been announced recently that are part of the business of Government. They are to do with the business tax review that is currently out in the public domain. It is a discussion document seeking the views of the business community on the rate of company tax and on ways of reducing compliance costs. In tandem with that we also have the quality regulation review. Again we are engaging with members of the business community to draw on their expertise and ideas for improving and streamlining the regulatory environment within which their businesses are conducted. 
A number of other things have happened recently that go back to the heart of what this Labour-led Government is about. We have increased the minimum wage. We have also improved the rates rebate scheme to take effect from the middle of this year—as of 1 July—and households that are eligible will then be able to receive a $500 rebate.