Brown SimeonSIMEON BROWN (National—Pakuranga): Thank you Madam Speaker for the opportunity to take a short call on this inquiry into student accommodation which the Education and Workforce Committee has done an excellent job on. I do just want to acknowledge my colleague in the Green Party Chlöe Swarbrick for bringing this to the attention of the House but also my former colleague Nikki Kaye who was a big supporter of making sure that this inquiry did take place due to the fact that it is a very serious issue.There are many thousands of New Zealanders who live in student accommodation and who rely on the services that are provided and as has been said from a number of previous speakers in this debate there is a duty of care to those young people as they step out of their parents' homes and as they enter the big bright sparkly world and as they get on their own two feet. It is a challenging time in young people's lives but also a time of great opportunity. It's important that the right care and support is there for those young people so that they are able to thrive as they grow up and as they go forward in their lives.This particular inquiry has I think unpicked a number of the key issues. I didn't sit on the select committee but I was on the Education and Workforce Committee in the last Parliament and so am very aware of many of these issues. Obviously there's the very sad passing of Mason Pendrous and there were significant issues that took place during COVID-19 and young people effectively being put in very awkward positions going home but still having to pay for accommodation and the many challenges that took place during those lockdowns for young people in these circumstances.I do think it's important that there is that cross-party support for the code cross-party support for the better and I guess more transparent responsibilities upon providers to ensure that they are living up to a code which does mean that students living in that accommodation have the right processes to make sure that they have their concerns heard and that changes are then able to be made. I think that's certainly something that was reflected very much in the submissions. I think Parliament did act in relation to some of those issues by putting in place the code. But there is always more to be done. I think some of the recommendations which are being made in this inquiry reinforced the importance of having the pastoral care of tertiary and international students' codes of practice.—making sure that that has the right balance between the responsibility of those people who own and operate student accommodation and the rights of the people who are in there.As my colleague Paul Goldsmith did allude to the National Party didn't support the proposal put forward by the Green Party that all student accommodation should be provided essentially by the State. One only needs to look at the many challenges the Government is already facing in the housing space to know that this is not necessarily the answer in terms of trying to fix the problem. There has been I think an increase of four or five times the number of people in emergency accommodation on the social housing waiting list. There are serious and significant challenges facing New Zealanders in these areas and to essentially say that coming in and making it publicly run is not necessarily going to fix the issues. The Government does have an interest in ensuring that they are appropriately run as the Government has an interest with the Residential Tenancies Act and other legislation around other accommodation rules and regulations but that does not mean the Government should be the sole provider of a particular service. That's where the National Party's view very firmly stands; that this code is important it must have the right balance but stepping forward and saying that the Government should effectively manage all student accommodation is not necessarily the answer to this issue. We commend this report to the House.