Harawira Hone: Building (Late Consent is a Free Consent) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Harawira Hone: Building (Late Consent is a Free Consent) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:634;Page:5688] 
HONE HARAWIRA (Maori Party—Te Tai Tokerau) 
: 
 Tena koe Madam Assistant Speaker; kia ora tatou te Whare. The Maori Party takes the view that what is good for Maori has to be good for the nation. When we look at the building and construction industry we see that our view is the right one because the construction industry in this country is massive with $19 billion of expenditure and more than 150000 people employed and with heaps of Maori working as architects designers plumbers plasterers and roofers. We drive the “bullies” we contract the subbies and we do the welding the concreting and the building. In fact in the construction industry Maori really are doing the business. Apart from the armed forces construction was the only industry to increase its share of Maori employment from 1999-2005—up by a massive 55 percent. The construction industry also contributes some 5 percent of our nation’s GDP and even more to our genuine progress index which measures sustainability well-being and the quality of life. Clearly the benefits from the building industry have a positive impact on employment planning economic growth warmth shelter and family stability. 
This bill the Building (Late Consent is a Free Consent) Amendment Bill amends the Building Act in order to prevent councils from charging fees when through their own fault they are late in getting their paperwork done. In fact the bill creates a no-fee provision over eight separate pieces of legislation. In simple terms the bill stops councils from charging people when councils screw up. We want to know from those in the industry—those whom I have just mentioned earlier—whether that will actually reduce building delays or whether those delays may be caused by other issues. We look forward to the select committee process and to hearing in the Local Government and Environment Committee about the solutions people in the industry may have. 
The Maori Party is well aware that the building industry of today has a low uptake in vocational training which is quite a shock really to those Maori communities that have always taken pride in the chippies sparkies and brickies that have come from their ranks. I can remember back in the 1960s and 1970s working alongside young men who were doing their trade training through the Department of Maori Affairs and staying at the Maori hostels in Gillies Avenue and Owens Road in Auckland. The department recruited transported housed and supervised those trainees and technical institutes provided their training. The scheme launched in 1959 as an experiment turned out to be a blazing and spectacular success. It reduced rural unemployment it let young Maori step into employment in a supportive environment it produced a pool of trained employees in the building industry and it provided highly skilled tradespeople. I can remember Mainzeal Property and Construction one of Auckland’s biggest construction businesses having an open-door policy on all Department of Maori Affairs trainees such was the quality of their apprenticeships and their work. With the advent of this latest bill before the House I cannot help but think back to that scheme and wonder why we are not re-establishing such a scheme to cope with the delays in building management. 
We look forward to hearing about what is causing those delays and whether they are actually being created from inefficiency a lack of planning a lack of staff or maybe just plain bureaucratic incompetence. We want to know whether speeding up the process will impact on the quality of the decisions that are made and we need to know that reducing the fees will not mean reducing quality in the building management process. The Maori Party will support this bill going to the select committee because any move to reduce costs and reduce delays in such a strong and vibrant industry can only benefit the community at large the Maori community in general and the Maori workforce in particular. Kia ora Madam Assistant Speaker.