Clarkson Bob: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Clarkson Bob: Housing Restructuring and Tenancy Matters (Information Matching) Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:631;Page:3502] 
BOB CLARKSON (National—Tauranga) 
: 
 I am happy to speak on this bill of course. We desperately need some system to catch the people who rip the system off. We should stop all the rorts that are happening—and there are many of them. Taxpayers are already losing $485 per week per house every year. That is $485 per State house on this failed system. That is a helluva lot of money. We do not need tenants ripping the taxpayers off any more. 
The Government has a $12 billion investment in State houses and I stutter when I call this an investment. I believe there is a better way to deal with State house tenants. We need information sharing between the Housing New Zealand Corporation and the Ministry of Social Development. We need to keep control of benefits etc. Because the Labour Government has trained some people in New Zealand to live on the benefit gravy train and those people rip off the taxpayer wherever possible we have problems. 
I have nothing to hide myself and I believe that a lot of State house tenants have nothing to hide. Therefore I believe that all honest tenants would have no trouble with their information being shared between the two departments—the Housing New Zealand Corporation and the Ministry of Social Development. I would like to quote a good example of two houses in Tauranga. One cost $370000 and is rented for $45 a week. The Housing New Zealand Corporation needs to know that that house is occupied by a little old lady. Unfortunately her husband died and she now occupies a three-bedroom house by herself. What a waste. We have families with two or three children who cannot get houses like this. The other house cost $350000 and three couples share this house. By sharing information this situation would be picked up through benefit payments. All those couples I know for a fact use the same address so that could be picked up very easily. The sad part of this situation is that even if the Labour Government through its department knew of this information it would not act on it because it is inefficient. 
The State housing sector is a mess at the moment. Chris Carter is a failure. He has lost the plot. He needs a lot more information to help him make some correct decisions. I believe he does not have the ability to act on any more information; if he got more information he would be more confused. However I still think that information sharing might get the message through that we have some people ripping the system off. 
Labour through Chris Carter did not support National in 1999 when it tried to bring similar legislation into the House. As I have said before Chris Carter must now be getting a bit desperate. He is now recommending original National Party ideas. Good old Chris Carter—he is gradually learning. 
We need to make the State house market totally transparent. Sharing information between departments would help in this direction. Sharing information might wake the Labour Government up to the fact that the State housing market is a mess. There must be a better way. Any information sharing in the future will help the future National Government sort this mess out. 
I myself as an honest New Zealander—and that is a bit strange around here—am totally embarrassed by what is happening in the State housing sector. We have the well-paid in State houses. We have multiple families living in a State house and there are many cases of that. These people are making money at the taxpayers’ expense. I find that strange but it seems to be allowed. 
We need a crossover of information to sort out this mess. I thought that State houses were to help people get a good start. I did not think that a State house was a lifestyle or that it gave someone a chance to make some money out of a taxpayers’ asset. We must get information in order to get back to the original idea of a hand up not a handout. We must get fairer with all the taxpayers and have a more acceptable system to help people who need a house. Information sharing will help this happen. 
Hon Clayton Cosgrove 
: You already read that bit. 
BOB CLARKSON 
: Yes that’s right and somebody else wrote it too—the member said that last week! 
I would like to finish off by saying that I cannot understand why people are upset about sharing information. It can only mean that they do not intend to pay and they do not intend to be found. I would also like to mention that when National sold State houses Maori got most of those houses. By the way I would like to mention also that I was brought up in a cowshed so it is not only Maori who had tough times. But at least I have improved. That member has not! 
Darren Hughes 
: This is the improvement? 
BOB CLARKSON 
: I would almost say that that member is in the pigsty; however I will not go that far. 
The ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ann Hartley) 
: The member should not use that expression. 
BOB CLARKSON 
: I apologise. He is a very nice guy but I cannot see where! 
I believe that all disadvantaged people in New Zealand should be helped where necessary. People who do not pay should not be disadvantaged by others. On behalf of the National Party myself and Phil Heatley we will get a much better system in place when we are Government in the next term—members should take note. We need information shared between departments so that we can weed out the people who fail to meet their obligations. We support this bill.