Hipkins ChrisCHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka): I am not surprised that Government members want to cut this debate short but I thank them for this opportunity to bring forward the Labour Party's comprehensive plan to deal with the housing crisis. Although they may not have any ideas for how to deal with the significant issues facing New Zealand we do and we welcome this opportunity to debate them. I particularly welcome this opportunity to debate Phil Twyford's amendments.The CHAIRPERSON (Hon Trevor Mallard): I am just going to interrupt the member because we are coming up to 1 o'clock and I do want to indicate that I was convinced by the Leader of the House to do something that was improper. I want to apologise to the Committee. I should not have put that leave because it is leave that could have been taken only in the House and not in the Committee. The time now is to have some kai. I will resume the Committee at 2 o'clock.Sitting suspended from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.CHRIS HIPKINS: I was barely getting started when I was so impertinently interrupted by the lunchtime break. I want to commend and congratulate my colleague Phil Twyford for the excellent amendment that he has put forward that provides a concrete solution to some of the housing challenges that New Zealand faces. The amendment that Phil Twyford has put forward is the first part in what will be a comprehensive plan by the Labour Party to deal with the housing crisis in a way that the Government has failed to do and we thank it for at least giving us this blank canvas this opportunity—this opportunity—to deal with the crisis that it has created and does not have any solutions to fix it. So moving to this particular amendment that my colleague Phil Twyford has put forward which requires the housing Minister with the Housing New Zealand Corporation to develop a plan for the delivery of 10000 affordable houses per year for first-home buyers I want to speak first of all to a minor amendment that I have added to that which would insert the word new" after "10000" in new section 50T proposed in new clause 12. That is very important because we have several thousand State houses already and what I would be concerned about is if the Government was to use this to basically justify the hocking off of the existing State housing stock and say that it was increasing the supply of affordable houses by selling off State houses. By adding the word "new" into this we are making it very clear that this is not about tinkering around the edges or reshuffling the cards as this Government only seems able to do; it is actually about dealing with the fundamental issue which is that there are not enough affordable houses and we need more of them. My colleague Megan Woods will shortly be speaking to another amendment that adds a particular time frame that is required for this to happen and I think that is a very important clarification to this also. I want to move further forward and look at the provisions in proposed new section 50U which are the clauses that deal with what this affordable housing development should include. It says: "In implementing the affordable housing development the Corporation must: (a) Ensure that the houses completed are affordable;". That is really important because if we reference back to the debate we had earlier about the special housing areas we learnt during that debate that only 10 percent of 75 percent of them are actually going to be affordable houses—so that is around 5000 affordable houses out of the total of houses that are being developed. It simply is not enough. Let us be clear: the 10000 that this proposal suggests also is not enough but it is a start and it is a heck of a lot better than the Government has been proposing or willing to do anything about. Between the last census in 2006 and the one in 2013 the population of Auckland alone grew by 110000 and the Government is saying that it thinks 5000 affordable houses is enough. It simply is not. There is an entire generation of Aucklanders in particular—but New Zealanders as a whole—who are being shut out of the housing market because of a shortage of housing supply. I listened to the mayoral debate on Radio New Zealand National this morning as I was driving to work—[Bell rung] Mr Chair.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): Sorry you had 1 more minute.CHRIS HIPKINS: I did have 1 more minute yes—thank you. I listened to the debate on the radio this morning—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): Just checking just checking!CHRIS HIPKINS: I listened to the debate on the radio this morning and even Vic Crone the National Party - supported candidate for the mayoralty of Auckland was saying that it is a crisis and that there are not enough affordable houses and yet the National Government is not willing to step in and actually finally do something about it.This proposal put forward by my colleague Phil Twyford—a concrete proposal—to do something about the housing crisis is an opportunity. I hope the Government will embrace it because it has basically been saying that the Opposition is all talk and that we have not got any real plans. Well here they are and there are a lot more of them to come. I look forward to the Government's support because if it is actually serious about dealing with housing affordability it will support this amendment and it will make the commitment to build 10000 affordable homes every year. That is the minimum that we are going to need if we are going to provide the entire generation who have been locked out of the housing market the chance to get on the housing ladder."