Mark RonHon RON MARK (NZ First): Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker. Well actually I was about to make this probably one of the shortest calls in history because I think we've debated this issue at the first reading. I heard the arguments from the Opposition—none of it very convincing at that stage. We debated it again at the second reading and here we are at the third reading and I'm hearing boring repetition—Andrew Bayly: Come on Ronnie. Do the work.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! Even interjections must include a member's full and proper title. Thank you.Hon RON MARK: Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.So we're at the point where we're hearing boring repetition but then every now and then something different does pop up. The notion of a code of conduct being proffered by the National Party as a means of the market regulating itself—I actually think I heard the same speeches probably to be fair coming out of the mouths of Roger Douglas and Richard Prebble in the 1980s: two people who have been dismissed into the political ether because of their theories along with Ruth Richardson's views and Bill Birch's views on trickle-down. Isn't it ironic how probably one of the main reasons that we have this wonderful coalition Government made up of New Zealand First Labour and the Greens is because of the public's final conclusion that trickle-down doesn't work—ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): I'm afraid I have to call the member to order. We are straying.Hon RON MARK: —nor does the belief that the market will regulate itself in the way that the honourable member was just suggesting it might. The National Party minority report—Dan Bidois: What's the bill called?Hon RON MARK: You're a silly boy: the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill. So what you're talking about is in the Residential Tenancies (Prohibiting Letting Fees) Amendment Bill introducing instead of this legislation Mr Bidois in line with the right-wing thinking of that party—the ultra-right-wing thinking looking after its business mates—it would advocate that we dismiss this bill today and we introduce instead a code of conduct. Well boy hasn't that worked so far! When we were in Opposition last year we suggested many times that that was what was required to get landlords to comply with the basic requirements of their tenants like making sure that the gutters were replaced when they were rusted out and like making sure that the House was insulated but that was rejected by the National Party. So to have the National Party now suggesting that a code of conduct inflicted upon the real estate industry would work having just told us last term that a code of conduct wouldn't work is silly—just silly.Dan Bidois: Come to the bill mate.Hon RON MARK: I am speaking to the member's comments on the bill and specifically the member's own referrals to their minority view on the bill. So I'm simply—Dan Bidois: We didn't mention it in the minority report.Hon RON MARK: So I am simply saying Mr Bidois—the wonderful thing about these young guys coming to Parliament in their first year and first term: they know a lot. They tell you they know a lot. [Interruption]ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order!Hon RON MARK: I would say to that member that we would reject—Hon Member: You used to know something once Ron.ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Poto Williams): Order! There have been lots of references to the Speaker throughout the course of this debate. It will now stop. Thank you.Hon RON MARK: Thank you. We would reject any notion that a code of conduct being run by the industry itself would resolve this issue. We would agree with others who believe that there are some anomalies in the way in which this fee is charged like for example Housing New Zealand. Housing New Zealand doesn't charge such a fee and yet Housing New Zealand is still able to manage the large number of applicants for houses that it has in an environment where demand exceeds supply.Alastair Scott: That's why they don't need the letting fee. Hon RON MARK: What stands out to us Mr Scott is that this is a wonderfully convenient filter put in place to ensure that the types of tenants that these landlords and these agents don't want to have to deal with are eliminated from that housing market. That is why we end up with people living in vans during a National term of Government.Alastair Scott: More under your Government.Hon RON MARK: Mr Scott that is why we ended up with people living under bridges and that is why fundamentally we disagree. It's not hard to disagree because whenever we raised this issue in the last term and we talked about there being a housing crisis that Government—Mr Scott's Government—said there was no housing crisis. It wasn't a crisis to have people who were locked out of the housing market who couldn't buy a home because they'd become unaffordable. Through various mechanisms such as this designed to filter those low-income families—filter those possibly not-so-acceptable families to certain people—out of their market they would introduce a fee such as this.Not based on actual costs of leasing the property not based on an analysis of the expenses incurred—just a carte blanche one week's rent regardless of whether the home was in West Auckland South Auckland Pakuranga. You know regardless of where it was it was just one week's rent. That flies absolutely in the face of all of the assurances that I ever hear from business people that they are analytical about their charges that they have pre-set margins that they adhere to and that they trade fairly. What this just smacks of is a rort; (1) a rort and (2) a deliberate filter put in place to eliminate people they didn't want in their houses. Well that is not how one cares for the well-being of the people of this nation.I'm proud of the fact that this Government has a housing policy. It has got KiwiBuild running. It has set its goal on building more community homes catering for the homeless catering for the people who have been locked out of the Auckland market through rampant property sales to offshore investors where they've driven the prices up through the roof and made it impossible for families who have a collective income of $160000 a year to buy a house. Well we have overcome that now and we're on track to put right that which was so badly run for the last nine years. New Zealand First is very proud of this.Andrew Bayly: Well we'll be watching you.Hon RON MARK: We support this. Well I only hope sir that you are watching—not the Assistant Speaker—for a very very long time from that seat over there. Thank you Madam Assistant Speaker.