Adams Paul: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
Adams Paul: Debate on Crown Entities Public Organisations  and State Enterprises — In Committee 
[Volume:626;Page:21336] 
PAUL ADAMS (United Future) 
: 
 I believe that this issue—this leaky building scenario and the department we are looking at—is probably one of the most serious issues that the country is facing at the moment. I have seen Government members stand up time and time again in this debate and proclaim that the Government is showing leadership. Well where is the leadership on this issue? 
The unfortunate part with the leaky homes situation is that the time bomb is ticking. The Government has a responsibility and it is even classified here—the cost of litigation. The report states that the authority is one of a number of defendants in law suits. So the Government has a responsibility to look at this issue. But the problem that people with a leaky home have is that as every day goes past the situation gets worse. We have families living in Auckland and no doubt in other parts of the country who are living in homes that would now be dangerous. I have heard of people who have walked into their living room and a hole in the floor has just opened up and the floor has collapsed because it has been absolutely rotten. Young children have gone out on to a terrace and it has collapsed. 
A Government that shows leadership on this issue needs to pick up the responsibility. Yes the issues of resolving this problem are no doubt long and complex. But there is a very simple solution to this. The Government immediately needs to make available to people an interest-free loan so that the homes can immediately begin to be rectified and then the process and the discussion with councils can take place on who is responsible for what. Do not forget that we have said that new standards have been put in place. Well let me assure members that the standards as good as they may be are absolutely as useless as the previous standards if the inspections are not done and the new regulations are not checked. 
As a qualified carpenter and joiner I assure members that the majority of the problems in the leaky homes situation are not because of the materials but because of the standard of workmanship put into those homes. Any timber in a home will eventually rot if water is flowing through it. Therefore when there are no satisfactory flashings around windows and doors to prevent water from flowing into a home—[ 
Interruption 
] Dail Jones can bleat away as a lawyer. They are the ones who are responsible for making all these laws and regulations that are put into place. But when the rubber hits the road the bottom line is that people have to rectify their homes. Rules and regulations will never make a home watertight. There has to be good workmanship as well. 
United Future believes that the Government has a responsibility to begin fixing these homes immediately. A time bomb will be going off. The longer this problem is left the more expensive the houses will be to repair. Many families bought their homes in good faith. Councils or the correct authorities had checked them. They have issued codes of compliance yet in many cases those homes and houses did not comply with the very regulations they were supposed to be built under. 
I believe that watertightness is one of the most significant issues we need to deal with and it is not the time right now to apportion blame. It is time right now to find a satisfactory method whereby people who have problems with their homes can start to rectify the defects and get them fixed and under way. Yes there is then a process to follow on in finding who is responsible and where the money will come from. But from my perspective if the Government is serious about getting New Zealanders into home ownership if it is serious about the social consequences of people having a good home to live in then it must deal with this most significant issue—this watertightness of homes—immediately. The Government should provide a pathway for those New Zealanders instead of delegating responsibility and shifting the blame here and there which really is not helping the very people who are crying out for help. 
Those people have stretched themselves to buy their homes and now they are being told they will have litigation cases to attend to and they will have to go to court. Where will they get the money from? In many cases it may cost them $60000 or $70000 to go to court to get a decision to shift the blame or a portion of blame whereas it may cost only $50000 or $60000 to actually repair their house. Who is to say that they will win their court case and even then they still will not have a repaired home? We need to make sure that the work will be done. I encourage the Government and other parties to get together and say that we need to get finance available to those people so that they can begin the repair process.