Salesa Jenny: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSalesa Jenny: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 08 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8637. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]JENNY SALESA (Labour—Manukau East): Thank you for the opportunity to take a short call on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill. Labour supports this bill. This is a bill that while making some improvements for many of the tenants unfortunately for us does not go far enough. Minimum insulation standards and smoke alarms for private rental properties are a step in the right direction and that is why the Labour Party is supporting this bill. However the Government could and the Government should do much more.When you insulate a cold house without requiring modern efficient heating it would still leave the tenants cold freezing and at risk of suffering respiratory diseases. Emma-Lita Bourne was a toddler from my electorate from Ōtara in South Auckland. The coroner earlier this year found in his report that one of the contributing factors to the reason why this toddler died was basically the appalling state and the condition of the State house that she lived in. It was cold it was freezing it was damp it was leaking and it was full of mould. The coroner said that these conditions were one of the main reasons why she suffered. She went to hospital and unfortunately passed away.One of the primary schools in my area in Ōtara—just a few streets down the road from Pearl Baker Drive where Emma-Lita Bourne grew up and lived—took it upon themselves. These are 6 to 11-year-old primary school children in Ōtara and they took it upon themselves because they cared enough. They wanted to find out why is it that there is mould in houses. They wanted to find out whether or not they themselves were living in houses that were full of mould. These young primary school kids partnered with Landcare Research scientists and in their research findings that were released a few weeks ago they found out that in their homes—in 18 out of the 22 homes in Ōtara from this research—they found mould. Not just one type of mould; they found 14 different types of mould in their homes. They also found three types of yeasts and some of these yeasts were tied to the superbug.What the Landcare Research scientist Stanley Bellgard told Radio New Zealand when they were releasing their study is that moulds affect healthy people. However it creates a downward spiral for those who are predisposed to disease those who are stressed and those who are malnourished. Unfortunately he was describing many of the folks who are living in Ōtara and South Auckland.Labour is supporting this bill because as I said earlier on it is a step in the right direction. However there are many thousands of New Zealanders who are lacking warm dry homes. This bill unfortunately is a step but the Government in our opinion should do so much more. Thousands and thousands of New Zealanders do not live in warm dry homes. This is an issue that is facing far too many New Zealanders. We believe that this particular bill is a policy that is indeed a half measure—an issue that this Government is becoming professional at in terms of introducing a trademark half measure towards addressing the housing issue that we are facing in Auckland.This initiative was announced we believe because of public opinion and it will only tinker around the edges. The Government has no courage to take the bold decisions that it should be taking. Ensuring that rental properties are up to scratch is indeed the right thing to do. It is an economic no-brainer that if we spend $1 on retrofitting then the country will save $5 on public health expenditure. We support this bill to the next stage but we believe that the Government should be doing so much more than this half measure. Thank you.