Jones Shane: Building Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Jones Shane: Building Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:645;Page:14751] 
Hon SHANE JONES (Minister for Building and Construction) 
: 
 This bill will pass. Soon this bill will become a permanent feature of our legislative landscape. I must say that the last speaker is promoting a reduction in standards a departure from accountability and a rejection of any liability so that those who are most vulnerable will not be able to rely upon the quality of the builder the integrity of the council inspections and the professionalism of the designers. That member is encouraging the Committee to open up this area of governmental activity holus-bolus to the surge of the market with no regulatory oversight at all. That is actually the conclusion of his very loud but largely incomprehensible unhelpful— 
Hon Member 
: Irrelevant. 
Hon SHANE JONES 
: Well it is irrelevant because the man will not be on the front bench for much longer. There is a far more talented group of people. They are slightly younger and more energetic and they have a better appreciation of where the spirit of the New Zealand family is. 
Of course the average New Zealand family when they are approaching house purchase are concerned about the cost of money and concerned about delay but deep down they do not want to see a perpetuation of the misery the agony and the dread associated with the collapse of the building industry which led to the leaky houses. 
Let us go back to the pith of what lies underneath these reforms. Admittedly the member is able to dredge up information from Nelson although he has been challenged by my colleague Maryan Street as to the accuracy and the veracity of what he says. I do not actually get quite as worked up as Minister Street does. We generally dismiss what Dr Smith says because it lacks accuracy and it is used and distorted for a purpose for which it was not designed. But one cannot escape the underlying story that the amendments associated with this bill are designed to ensure that we close the gaps that led to the development of the leaky homes hangover. 
There are people who are still associated with these problems. They are looking for councils to remain thorough and they are looking for building practitioners to improve their level of professionalism and skill. Dr Nick Smith does not want that to happen. He wants to dress up that kind of activity as unnecessary bureaucracy and overshooting regulation etc. whereas in actual fact underlying the problem is the fact that people want to be in secure homes. People want to be confident that where there is a problem they can rely on the process to find those who have put them wrong. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: 110 pages? 
Hon SHANE JONES 
: Would the member say that homeowners should rely on something as skimpy as a small scrap of paper the size probably of his intellectual pedigree when they discover a problem and try to find someone to help them solve it? 
One cannot walk away from that problem. I say to Dr Smith that one cannot walk away from the underlying challenge here which is to ensure that the legislation improves the prospects of all Kiwis whether they are buying an exceedingly expensive property or what we might regard as an affordable property and to ensure that they can rely on the quality of the monitoring and the skill associated with the construction of the dwelling. Now that is what this bill seeks to do. 
This bill will pass. No doubt this is not the final iteration of the code and the associated regulatory framework for New Zealand housing. Far be it from me to say that this is the final word. But I must say after going around and talking to people that the insurance industry is waiting to see these reforms fully implemented because councils cannot actually get any further insurance. They are not able to insure against the problem of leaky homes which is what we have sought to remedy with the passage of this legislation. 
It may be said that some councils are being over-zealous in the amount of paper they require. But we have a system of central government and sub-national levels of government. Those local government bodies I say to Dr Smith have at their disposal the ability to regulate the amount of paperwork they require but they need a handsome strong framework which is what this bill produces.