Kaye Nikki: Building Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Reading 
Kaye Nikki: Building Amendment Bill (No 3) — Third Reading 
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NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I am very pleased to speak on the Building Amendment Bill (No 3). One of my first jobs was working at Parliament and I was here when the first issues were raised around leaky homes. One of the saddest moments that I had when I was working in these parliamentary precincts was when the last Labour Government initially denied the leaky homes situation. I think members across the House now realise the extent of the leaky—and I would say rotting—homes situation but there was initially a denial. I want to say to some of the members who have made comments about the leaky homes situation that I am very proud of our Government’s commitment in this area. We have put in over a billion dollars to help those families and most of us have constituents who have been in terrible situations. 
I think the point that I would make this evening about this legislation is that what we are saying as a Government is that we do have a comprehensive package of reforms but we differentiate between what is a comprehensive package and actually staging it in pieces of legislation because there are certain pieces that we need to get through now. 
There are a couple of points that I want to make in relation to this bill about why it is really important that we pass it now and we do not wait—I know there is a piece of work going to the Law Commission around contracts—because there are several key parts to this legislation. We heard Gareth Hughes the Green Party member talk about why he opposed it. He mentioned a phrase. He said members on this side use slogans like “cutting red tape and bureaucracy”. What I want to say to that member is that he often talks about housing affordability and there is a direct correlation between reducing red tape reducing bureaucracy and the cost of a house. So if we want to get more young New Zealanders into houses then we have to have more pieces of legislation like this. 
A core part of this bill that will lead to more affordable houses is risk-based consenting. I think there is an estimate here that for a simple home it would reduce planning and consenting time by about a third and reduce the number of inspections by about two-thirds. So the point that I make to members this evening is that cutting red tape and cutting bureaucracy have a direct correlation to housing affordability which is good for New Zealanders. 
The second point that I would just like to make briefly is about the fact that it is a great evening for the do-it-yourselfers in New Zealand because there are many New Zealanders who do not have a lot of money but who enjoy doing a little bit of work on their property. What is great is that previously they would have had to employ licensed building practitioners. Now as a result of this bill they will not have to do that and we on this side of the House are very proud to say we are not going to wait a year for that to happen; we want that to go through tonight. 
The final point that I would make has been a theme that we have had earlier in the general debate speeches and that is around the contribution to the economy. There are 170000 people employed around New Zealand in the construction sector and we know that the construction sector is worth about $20 billion. I acknowledge that I think 5 percent of our economy is around construction-related jobs. I acknowledge all those people around the country who contribute and I say that this side of the House does have a comprehensive piece of reform in terms of the building industry. We are not afraid to say that some things need to happen now and that is what this legislation is doing. Tonight is a great night for those do-it-yourself Kiwis. Thank you.