Collins JudithHon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura): Oh thank you Mr Chair and good choice might I say. Look I agree with everything—Dr Duncan Webb: What have you cooked up? Hon JUDITH COLLINS: —that my colleagues have said and I would say to Dr Duncan Webb that if he wants to have some nice home-made Louise cake tomorrow he'll just behave himself. I'm not going to turn up with some silly scungy-looking Madeira cake. Anyway so let's get back to business. Let's talk about manure of the horse variety otherwise known as KiwiBuild. I think it's really important that we talk about a subject where the Government has promised big on KiwiBuild and then they put the Hon Phil Twyford in charge. What they have been able to do is—we asked them in our select committee the Finance and Expenditure Committee about the KiwiBuild Buying off the Plans initiative. We got some explanation about how the Government"—in other words read "the taxpayers"—will underwrite or purchase new homes off the plans as a way of underwriting private developers in case the houses do not sell. Note that phrase "in case the houses do not sell" and what we have found is they hardly ever do sell. So whether it's 11 apartments in Ōtāhuhu in Auckland where you'd think surely surely the public would think these would sell—anyone would think they would sell—but six months later they are still not sold. Ten of them are not sold. But that apparently enables the developer to go and build other places that people don't want to buy. So amazingly that is apparently adding to the housing stock but unfortunately they've got no one in them and that's because they have not sold. Then I give you Wānaka—please Wānaka—where we've got houses built—Hon Amy Adams: Oh they must sell. Hon JUDITH COLLINS: No—unfortunately not Mrs Adams. They have not sold. No no no they have not sold. But then why would they sell? They have no storage other than outside storage things so people can put skis in. There's no cellar inside and no garaging because apparently it doesn't snow in Wānaka and nothing else that people might want for $650000 for a little two-bedroom home. And that's what Phil Twyford's KiwiBuild Buying off the Plans initiative is assisting. Unfortunately the problem doesn't stop there because of course most of those haven't sold either. The problem doesn't stop there because he's contracted for close to 200 new homes extra in—guess what? Wānaka. Hon Amy Adams: No. Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Yes that place where first-home buyers are rushing to buy a homeHon Amy Adams: But not from Phil. Hon JUDITH COLLINS: Possibly not unless they want a ski chalet or something but that's the sort of nonsense we're seeing: a waste of money. What is driving this waste of money—and it wouldn't be a waste of money if there was this enormous need in Wānaka for first-home buyers to buy a KiwiBuild home for $650000 a little two-bedroom place with one bathroom. There would be no problem but there is not that need. Te Kauwhata is another example where every house that the developer seems to build sells unless it has a KiwiBuild sticker on it. The same house—exactly the same house—in the same street with no KiwiBuild sticker sells but one with a KiwiBuild sticker doesn't. Now why would that be? You'd have to say that the whole scheme and project is rubbish. Hon Amy Adams: The stench of Twyford. Hon JUDITH COLLINS: I would not blame Mr Twyford myself personally as the stench but I do think that the whole policy is a dog. It's a dog that has well lived past its use-by date and it actually never really had any use at all. Then we have things like this: the Reserve Bank. I'm going to finish on this issue. The Reserve Bank is a bastion of independence or it certainly was under a John Key and Bill English - led Government. It was a bastion of independence under a Helen Clark - led Government. It is no longer a bastion of independence. It has now been subverted by having Treasury have its say over who's on that board. It just happens to be the Secretary to the Treasury at the moment. Well fancy that. We have now got a Treasury that's more involved with people's feelings than they are with their finances. Tell anybody this: sort out the finances for people you'll take a lot of stress off them and we'll take a lot of the problems away from them but this Government seems absolutely dedicated to talking sun and moon and caring and kindness. But unfortunately someone else has to pay the bills and that's the New Zealand taxpayer. We deserve better for the Reserve Bank. We are lucky to have the Reserve Bank and this Government is allowing the Reserve Bank to get watered down by Government influence."