Calder Cam: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Calder Cam: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Sitting date: 07 July 2011. Volume:673;Page:19934. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
Dr CAM CALDER (National) 
: 
 It is gratifying to hear the accolades from members all around the Chamber for the Minister for Building and Construction who has been working on the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill. They have commended the Hon Maurice Williamson for his work on this longstanding problem. 
An Englishman’s home is said to be his castle; a New Zealander’s home may be a whare a fale a crib a bach a villa a bungalow an apartment a town house or a stand-alone modern home. The last three—the apartment the town house and the stand-alone modern home—were built from the early 1990s through to about 2005 out of the monolithic cladding that allowed remarkable shapes to be created and built relatively cheaply. For a while it seemed to be an interesting addition to the materials available to the home builder and home buyer and the designer architect and the like in the profession but towards the end of the 1990s it became increasingly evident that there were significant problems with this building material. 
The situation went on for a number of years and was largely ignored by the previous Government. In 2002 as late as 25 November Helen Clark famously told Newstalk 
ZB 
host Paul Holmes that she had not taken much notice of the  
New Zealand Herald’s  
numerous stories about leaky homes because the  
New Zealand Herald  
was well known for banging on about issues of no substance. Her comments surprised Prendos director Phil O’Sullivan at the time who commented that he had been campaigning for 4 years to stop the problem. He said he was very surprised that the then Prime Minister was so badly informed. 
The problem was evident but no solution to the problem was found. There were some attempts under the previous Government but when we came into power one of the fundamental decisions we made was to fix a problem that had tens of thousands of New Zealanders living in cold damp homes harbouring mould and fungi— 
Stachybotrys 
 was mentioned by the Minister and the honourable member Sue Kedgley earlier—which can have appalling effects on a family’s health. Safety and security of body and soul and of family and property are the fundamental underpinnings of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. A safe and secure weathertight shelter is fundamental to the physical emotional and economic well-being of all New Zealanders. 
Along with other members of the Local Government and Environment Committee I have met a number of owners of leaky homes and have looked into their faces. I am reminded of the line from an old song: “The lines on my face reflect the wrinkles I’ve ironed out in my life.” I have looked into the face and the eyes of those people whom we have seen in the select committee and others I have seen out in the community and I have heard their stories. They were heartbreaking—they were heartbreaking. I have looked into their faces. I have seen pain I have seen rage I have seen deep sadness I have seen frustration and I have seen despair. The estimated number of leaky homes—some say 30000 some say 50000 and others say 80000—are not mere wrinkles in the lives of owners so affected. They represent deep fundamental savage wounding assaults on their very quality of life. As I said the stories we heard—and I think all members of the select committee would agree—were heartbreaking.  
This financial assistance package outlined in this bill is designed to bring tens of thousands of New Zealanders hope—hope and a way forward from an appalling and untenable blight that is damaging thousands and thousands of lives. As the Minister mentioned earlier the causes of this problem are many and varied. This is not a time to apportion blame; this is about a way forward. The solution is made on a collaborative and no-blame basis. We believe that it is a fair and effective package and we aim to spread the costs as evenly as possible. 
The question was put that the following amendment in the name of Phil Twyford to clause 6 be agreed to: 
to add the following paragraph to the definition of  
qualifying claimant 
 in section 125B: 
“(c)but does not include a person who has purchased a dwellinghouse with knowledge that it is a leaky building.”