Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Oh thank you so much Madam Chair Williams. I'm really pleased to be speaking on the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2) and I'd just like to start by congratulating you Madam Chair on being appointed Assistant Speaker of this House. As it's only one of my first times speaking—it's my third time speaking in the Chamber actually and it's a real honour to be here—I do ask for your patience because I am just learning. I am just learning.Let me just start by saying this is a Clayton's bill.Hon Members: Hooray!SIMEON BROWN: That's right.Clayton Mitchell: No need to bring me into the debate.SIMEON BROWN: And there's the Clayton. [Interruption]The CHAIRPERSON (Poto Williams): Order! Members.SIMEON BROWN: Thank you—thank you. So as I said it's a Clayton's bill and as we discuss the commencement of this bill we realise that five years is quite a long way away.Hon Simon Bridges: Not really—you'll be a Minister by then my friend.SIMEON BROWN: Oh thank you thank you—thank you Simon. In five years' time it will be 2022—2022. Labour will be back in Opposition and we'll be cleaning up the mess that they have left behind.Matt Doocey: The economy will have tanked.SIMEON BROWN: The economy will have tanked too—that's right Mr Doocey—as they said as Winston said when he announced his decision a few weeks ago. Five years as I was saying is a long time to be bringing in these regulations and I think that just goes to show that this bill is a bit like some insulation. You know it just fills some gaps. You know we've got some gaps to fill on the Order Paper so they decided to put forward the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2).Hon Kris Faafoi: This one's getting the new-member leniency too is he?SIMEON BROWN: That's right—that's right. We're debating this bill in regard to the commencement of it and we've got to ask the question—we've got to ask the question—why didn't they just keep to what National had already put in place? Why didn't we just go ahead with what the Government had already put in place: regulations that were going to be—but now we've got a question of regulations and no one knows what they'll be. No one knows what they're going to say. It says in this document that I have seen circulated—the cover says Heating and insulation standards for residential rental properties." It was prepared by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment so it's an official document and it asks the question: "Where do the costs fall?" It says "Further clarification on the composition of proposed standards for insulation heating draught proofing ventilation controlling moisture ingress and drainage is required before total costs can be determined accurately. These costs can then be considered through the assessment process for regulations that will give effect to these standards." Later on it says "The cost to private landlords will depend both on the current state of the properties and on the exact standards set in regulations."So we've got five years—five years—for people to work out what these standards and regulations might be and five years then in which they'll then be able to do—I'd just like to say I'm delighted to have been appointed to the Regulations Review Committee a very important committee. It is a very important committee but it looks like this is going to be a committee where we look after Clayton's bills because there are going to be lots of regulations that we're then going to have to scrutinise and make sure that we look after—Hon Simon Bridges: This is what Parliament's here for—high-quality scrutiny.SIMEON BROWN: Yes high-quality scrutiny Mr Bridges is exactly what we will be doing on that committee—Hon Simon Bridges: Holding the Government to account.SIMEON BROWN: —holding this Government to account—and I think this piece of legislation may be one of the first that we may have to be looking into to make sure that they're doing a good job and to make sure that they're putting through regulations that actually make a proper difference. It goes back to the point: they could've just gone ahead with what we'd already put in place but now we've got a five-year truncated process we're fluffing things out and we're making it all take a lot longer than needs to happen. We're making a whole lot of uncertainty and I think that's where this will end up. So I'm looking forward to looking at this under the Regulations Review Committee. Thank you."