Upston LouiseHon LOUISE UPSTON (National—Taupō): Thank you Madam Speaker. I'd like to join colleagues in the House this afternoon in speaking to what I think has been an important inquiry into student accommodation and in actually acknowledging this special debate process because I think it gives the opportunity to dig into some issues that have concerned members across the House for quite some time. This inquiry was triggered by as we've heard the tragic death of a 19-year-old student and an inquiry has explored some of the complications or challenges that arose which Chlöe Swarbrick spoke about particularly during the COVID lockdown periods. But I think we would be kidding ourselves if we didn't put on record that some of these challenges have existed in student accommodation for quite some time and it's the challenge of consistency that I think the inquiry has been able to examine.One of the things that I think every student would expect when they embark on their tertiary education is that if they choose to live in student accommodation that experience supports enables and enhances their learning and their life. And as others have mentioned we as parents often send our children—and they are children—off to university and it's a transition between children young adults and their entry into the world and I think perhaps at times what has come out of this inquiry is the appreciation that a young person might leave home confident about their next steps but then is confronted with the reality of what it means to have left home what it means to be independent and what it means to have to deal with some of these challenges on their own and their ability would be hugely variable in terms of navigating what support is available and what voice they have in being able to raise concerns. One of the things I wanted to put on record for my colleague Penny Simmonds who was lead on this inquiry from the National side was the need to ensure that any complaints mechanism or dispute resolution mechanism is simple and easy to access. One of things that sometimes we can do with the best intentions here in Parliament is add regulation and add layers of complexity that actually remove and get a step further away from what I think young people need to do.I think there's also an expectation from parents when they are sending their children to university—and many of the parents are the ones financially supporting their young adult—that they will be in an environment that's safe and yes while I agree with my colleague the Hon Paul Goldsmith many of us don't want to know the details of what occurs while they're there but we do want to know that they are going to be safe and that if there is anything that concerns them they have the ability to raise it. Some of where the issues have come up is around the residential advisers the RAs and I think they're a really important part of the hostel student accommodation provision. But my understanding from conversations from RAs and also from students and from the hostel providers themselves is they're more like a big brother or big sister. They're not social workers. And that's where I think at times some of the challenges that young people have brought to RAs may well be beyond their capacity or capability and the RAs have wanted to support the young person and to support the confidentiality of the conversations that have occurred but through a lack of capability have then been out of their depth and unable to provide the support that we think needs to be provided. I think that's one of the areas that's going to be really important. I agree with my colleague Paul Goldsmith that we must ensure there's a range of choices available for students for families both for the first year and beyond but that environment must mean if it is a hostel or student accommodation as we've talked about in this inquiry that there is support and there is easy access to raise concerns and that when concerns go beyond the ability of the person that first deals with it there is an easy process to then help that young person navigate to other services. That may also mean reaching out to that young person's family to help them navigate that as well. I am pleased that this inquiry has been supported across the Parliament with the intention of improving the student experience for every student.