Davidson MaramaMARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): Whoo! Who got the Minister going again? We are now debating new Part 3 which is my colleague Phil Twyford's amendment to the Housing Legislation Amendment Bill that proposes to ensure that there are 10000 affordable houses per year planned for and specifically for first-time buyers. So that is affordable. Then our Minister for Building and Housing got up and talked about the Opposition members being flakes. Gosh Minister we really need thousands of affordable homes. We need thousands of specifically affordable homes not just your homes that you are planning to build that will then be available for speculators—because they are the only ones who can afford those homes—to be able to use for building business and capital for their own wealth which also then gets passed on to renters who will have to be the avenue for those speculators to recuperate their capital put-down. That is what happens when you do not ensure affordable homes. Not only can ordinary New Zealanders not buy those homes but renters are forced more and more to live in homes where speculators are able in this current market to charge enormous rents—rents that my colleagues Phil Twyford and Marama Fox and I heard at our homelessness inquiry are diminishing families absolutely destroying families. There was never a more urgent time when we needed thousands of affordable homes. The Minister has just stood up and declared in this Chamber that we cannot fix it. That is what he just said. He said that we cannot fix it and that we cannot have the vision of having affordable homes for our country and he accused the Opposition members of being flakes for even suggesting the idea. That is what he just did in this Chamber ladies and gentlemen and all genders. He just stood up and declared that we cannot have this vision—we just cannot. That is this Government ladies and gentlemen. We just cannot have this vision of the thousands of affordable homes that this country needs. We need them. Take all your resources Government take your special knowledgable people and work it out have a plan—that is what new Part 3 is talking about. Come up with a plan. I do not want to hear about however many houses are being built now compared with whatever other time. You should have come and sat at the table at the inquiry looked those submitters in the eye and had a profound understanding that we need thousands of affordable homes. This Government can do it but it is choosing not to and that is having an impact on the everyday lives of our people—our own people. Children the elderly families and single people across the board need us to have that vision for our country. New Part 3 is asking for a plan—a plan to ensure that the Government will do it because the private developers will not want to and they have not. That is why the current bill that we are debating is even in this House because the developers are not going to provide affordable homes. The Government has to. If it had any profound connection to our communities it would understand this and it would instead get up and declare: We can fix this. We can provide thousands of affordable homes because our people need them and it will get worse if we don't. We will gather our resources our technology and our expertise and we will sit down and work out a plan." That is all that this new Part 3 is asking to do. At least have that ambition for our families Mr Minister. At least declare that you want to end homelessness and that you have a vision for every person in this country to have a warm safe and affordable home. That is the vision that our country is wanting and do you know who else had this vision? I will tell you. It was your own Prime Minister. In a debate in I think 2008 with the Rt Hon Helen Clark he was asked: "How do you define 'rich'?". The now Prime Minister the Rt Hon John Key replied: "Where a family can go to sleep every night in a bed without having to worry about money." Who does he think deserves that security? Who does the Prime Minister now see that vision is for? That is the definition of "rich" that he gave back in 2008 but who does he think deserves even to go to sleep in a bed every night let alone not have to worry about money? Not all of our people are going to sleep in a bed every night and if they are that bed might change the next night. This new Part 3 of the bill is an incredible part of the journey to change that Minister and you have just stood up in this Chamber and said that we cannot do it. Your Government has just declared that you cannot fix this. Well I am glad that the Greens have a plan to. I hear that Labour has a plan to. We are the people who need to be in Government so that we can fulfil our vision for New Zealanders to absolutely not have to go to sleep at night in their beds worrying about money. That is what we heard in the inquiry and that is being reflected in the poll result that my colleague Phil Twyford referred to earlier where even New Zealanders who are not experiencing homelessness themselves right now understand that it is wrong—60 percent understand that this is not cool. This is not cool Minister. Our country can do better. We have our people as our wealth. That is our richness and we are not protecting them. This new Part 3 of the bill from my colleague Phil Twyford is an incredible step in that direction. Where is your aspiration for our people? Thank you."