Mark RonHon RON MARK (NZ First): Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker. Well it's quite clear that the Opposition have run out of puff with this legislation because I think Mr O'Connor demonstrated that they really haven't got much more to say and what they are saying is somewhat hollow. I guess the most common argument I've heard is that landlords will pass on the costs. It's a comment that's been made by all of the Opposition speakers as they've rallied to support the house renters' market—or the market that's actually at the other end of the market which is actually controlled by landlords. I understand that. These are the people whose net wealth has skyrocketed under previous Government policies. These are the people who have benefited from the last Government the Government of nine years which comprised most of the people who sit on the Opposition benches right now—although some of them are vacating at a rapid rate and we understand there's more to go. I just hope they know that they're on their way.But one thing we know is that this Opposition party has been in Government and for nine long years has displayed a total inability to comprehend what's been going on in the housing market in the lives of ordinary New Zealanders who have to rent a home to live in. They seem to forget that 50 percent of New Zealanders live in rented accommodation—in parts of the country where they can get a house to rent. Of course you know we know in the Wairarapa that you can't rent State houses because the National Government sold 541 of them off to their mates in Trust House for $20000 each. Whenever I hear the National Party talking about their understanding of the housing market of the economy of being prudent fiscal managers who understand the realities of what is required to provide housing for New Zealanders I just scratch my head and think Yeah but these are the same people that sold off 541 houses in the Wairarapa for $11 million."Chris Bishop: What happened to the houses? Where did they go?Hon RON MARK: Oh they're all in the hands of your mates Mr Bishop—Trust House who are now wanting to get Government money to fix up the houses that they haven't fixed despite the fact that their equity tripled overnight after they did the deal with Wyatt Creech and the National Government of the day led by Jenny Shipley. So all I say to all the arguments from the National Party—Chris Bishop: That was 20 years ago. It wasn't even our Government.Hon RON MARK: All I say to Mr Bishop is that the reason you're opposing this legislation is because that party doesn't understand the housing crisis. It doesn't understand what ordinary New Zealanders have been confronted with day in day out—probably because a whole bunch of their MPs rent houses I don't know. Maybe they're landlords themselves. Maybe they've got a whole portfolio in Auckland and we could probably go to the pecuniary interests register and see exactly who they are and maybe hear their arguments as to why this key money should be retained.Let's be clear: this is key money. This is a fee being levied on a family who's struggling to find a house in Auckland who's been asked to front up with four weeks' bond out of their pocket two weeks' rent and now another week as key money. Now my colleague Minister Martin said to me if we were to go up to Warkworth an average three-bedroom home $550 a week—well crikey I live in the Wairarapa. I don't know what people are paying for a three-bedroom home in west Auckland or Onehunga or—where does my partner come from—Pakuranga. I don't know what they're paying there but Mr Singh he knows because he probably rents these houses to people I don't know. Maybe he'd like to take a call and tell us what they're paying.But if we're talking seven weeks' rent up front well I'm sorry—in the part of the world where I live people are struggling day to day week by week to make their wages carry them through to pay the school fees to pay the extra fees required to let their kids participate in school events and to take those field trips. This is the reality. You know I've got 13 grandchildren and I sometimes despair at what my kids are having to go through to ensure that their children can participate in all the events at school and yet my kids are doing well. Well I look across the street and I see other kids of mums and dads who aren't doing so well.So all we are saying is that this is part of a New Zealand reset policy what you're seeing here. We had the Pacific reset; well get this: there's a reset going on in New Zealand right now and it's the way in which this Government takes on its social obligations and its responsibilities to ordinary New Zealanders. This piece of legislation is part of it and this piece of legislation is going to have New Zealand First support because we agree with it. The arguments that we're hearing—you know I've heard someone say this is exploitation. Of course it is. It's ticket-clipping by someone who adds no value whatsoever—no value. And how bizarre because for the people who rent houses out and employ an agent to manage their portfolio they're paying a monthly fee anyway. Whenever they engage an agent to go out and get a tenant they pay a fee. When they get their agent to go and sort out the repairs and maintenance that has to be done they pay for that and then they pay a clip on top of that as the administration costs.So agents are being paid by the landlord anyway where agents are being employed but what about the mum and dad investor? They're not charging this. They're not. So how can we say "Oh this ability for a ticket clipper has to remain but we'll just ignore the fact that the people who are actually the core of the house rental market the mum and dad investors aren't charging that." Well I'm sorry. If they are not able to charge it why should these other ticket clippers be able to charge?The argument is that this is going to simply be passed on to the tenants. The statement from Treasury itself said "Experience in other countries shows no clear evidence that banning letting fees will lead to increased rents." That's what Treasury said and the evidence out of Scotland bears that out. So scaremongering and fearmongering is just a waste of time and it's quite deceptive and dishonest I might add.Here's the other point. If these costs which nobody's actually been able to drill down and demonstrate—there's no transparency around this fee. It's just a blanket fee: one week's rent plus GST. Where's the breakdown? Where does it show the tenant how much the cost of giving them that lease actually is? There is no breakdown. So people who advocate transparency are just quietly and conveniently ignoring the fact that there is none here. It's just a blanket fee.I just put it to you that we're hearing a lot of puff over on that side of the House. I can understand why they want to look after some people but I would have thought they would have listened to Barfoot and Thompson who support this legislation. I thought that having spent nine years listening to Treasury they'd be listening now because Treasury support this legislation. And if they can't bring themselves to admit that then maybe they'd just do one simple thing: support ordinary mums and dads who are struggling to make ends meet. OK if there is to be a pass-down of some costs well let it be done in a transparent way and let it be in a weekly payment which is a heck of a lot easier to manage for people who are in circumstances where they have to rent a home than in an upfront whack of one week's rent plus GST.I just simply say that you know the last Government showed it really didn't have a heart and it really didn't care for ordinary Kiwis who are struggling to find a house. The last Government didn't believe there was a housing crisis at all. It spent nine years telling everyone there wasn't one. I hope and I'd like to think that whilst they're in Opposition reflecting on the next three years they might find it within themselves to admit that along the way they just got a little bit lost and voting against this legislation just tells us that they haven't learnt a jolly thing in the last five months. Thank you Mr Assistant Speaker."