Fenton Darien: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Fenton Darien: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:664;Page:12199] 
DARIEN FENTON (Labour) 
: 
 I am pleased to have the opportunity to take a call in the Committee stage of the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill. First I say how pleased I am along with my colleagues that the bill is before the Committee having been introduced by the previous Labour Government in the last Parliament in May 2008. We were very pleased about it being introduced then and we looked forward to its speedy passage through the House particularly with issues such as boarding houses being included in the new legislation. Unfortunately people who rely on the provisions of the bill have had to wait a very long time. The Social Services Committee did great work and reported back in 2009 and here we are almost 2 years later finally getting to the remaining stages of this bill. It has been a long long time coming. 
I am also disappointed at the potential lost opportunity this bill represents. My very good colleague Moana Mackey has put up some excellent amendments and I hope the Minister of Housing will genuinely take them into account because I think there are some very important issues in them. 
I had to wonder about the Minister having been so busy swanning around Northcote. Today in question time he could not resist holding up the report by the  
North Shore Times 
—that really good left-wing local newspaper! Front page— 
Hon Ruth Dyson 
: What’s it called? 
DARIEN FENTON 
: The 
 North Shore Times 
. 
Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: I notice you advertise in it. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Every week it has a column from the member opposite Dr Coleman or his colleague. There is never anything from Labour in there but the Minister of Housing was on the front page. He could not help but tell the House how the tenants had cheered. Does the Minister know why they cheered? It was because they had been worried about whether their community urban renewal project would continue because it has been up in the air. I ask members to guess who started that community urban renewal project way back in the early 2000s. Labour set up that project and put forward the funding. 
Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: You actually were in Government then. You would expect you would have done something. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Labour funded the Tonar Street project I say to Dr Coleman. It was Labour that put the money forward to fund it yet the Minister last week was taking credit for something that he had absolutely nothing to do with. It was a hilarious thing to see. I know those tenants quite well and I know that they are Housing New Zealand Corporation tenants. They rely on legislation like this to have their issues heard. They come to see me in my office in Northcote and I am sure they come to see the member opposite Dr Coleman as well. I am very very pleased for them. 
The other interesting thing about that little celebration the other day was that on that same day there was a report in the  
New Zealand Herald 
 saying that the Tonar Street project was on hold because of issues to do with stormwater and so on. The Minister did not like that because it kind of spoiled his big moment. In the report in the  
New Zealand Herald  
the journalist had gone to ask what was happening to the staff of the community urban renewal project. As of last week they did not know what their jobs would be and whether they would still be working in the Cadness Street properties. 
Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman 
: That’s because you keep on telling them they won’t. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: That is true I say to Mr Coleman. I know those workers and I talk to them. Eighty percent of their jobs have changed from being community urban renewal project officers to being some sort of mortgage broker. 
It said in the report that they had gone to the union to ask what was happening with the restructuring in Housing New Zealand Corporation. That is a fair thing to do; after all the Public Service Association (PSA) represents those Housing New Zealand Corporation workers. The Minister could not help himself. In the presentation at Tonar Street he said that a union official had made some comments—a union official—and the Minister asked what a union official would know about stormwater. It was unbelievable. I suggest the Minister should talk to the PSA and get to know a few of those Housing New Zealand Corporation workers. They are very very worried at the moment. 
I particularly want to mention the amendment that my colleague Moana Mackey is putting forward about— 
Simon Bridges 
: You should stand for North Shore. 
DARIEN FENTON 
: Well I have not made up my mind yet so I tell Mr Bridges not to worry about it. I will let him know when I have made my decision—how is that? 
I want to talk about the representation of the Tenancy Tribunal and my concerns about the changes that raise the monetary threshold of the automatic right to be represented by a lay representative or counsel from $3000 to $6000. The problem for the people of Northcote I have been talking about is that there is no way they can afford that.