Webb DuncanDr DUNCAN WEBB (Labour—Christchurch Central): Thank you Madam Speaker it's a real pleasure. Very sad that the National Party doesn't support this bill and somewhat surprised given the fact that throughout the bill it sets out the ability to partner. This is a bill which is an enabling bill; not only enabling local bodies and community organisations but importantly the private sector as well. I must say it was great to be on the Environment Committee and sit in there and listen to the support that was given to this bill and the very thoughtful suggestions that were made in respect of it from across the board—whether it be from local government or from the private sector and also from a number of community organisations.I want to specially mention the Wesley Community Action group who came along and—I must say it was an unsophisticated but heartfelt submission; they are some of the submissions that I enjoy listening to most. I want to let them know here that by them coming and talking about the need for engagement—and the fact that in their own community they didn't feel that they had been engaged in the regeneration of the Porirua area—that they have had a real impact on this piece of legislation and that the need for community engagement has been particularly recognised. So I think that's a real example of democracy and the fact that people who had never been into the precinct had never been in to a select committee before—didn't come in a polished way but came with a genuine concern. We could then have an amendment to clause 14(1) which talks then about community engagement and the need for it being meaningful and early—so a great improvement from some great people who are doing good work in their own community. And Habitat for Humanity—I also want to mention their submission—who came along and again gave some real suggestions about making sure that we capture all of the possibilities for assisting in the housing debacle that this Government has inherited through nine years of sitting around and building no houses. So what we have is in respect of Habitat for Humanity an explicit recognition of not only getting people into homes but explicit recognition that that might be through co-ownership shared equity and any other kind of scheme.So that's what I mean when I say that this is enabling legislation. It's not simply setting out some single structure or track but it's saying Here we have an organisation which has a brief—a brief to give assistance to give direction to enter into partnerships and to facilitate partnerships." And in doing that there aren't a lot more constraints around it. So we know that there's going to be more legislation to come which will have some significant powers and some significant operational matters. But what we have here is a really good structure; a structure which will see this Government continue to address the issue of housing and communities—and the two can't be separated. That's the other important thing about this piece of legislation: it isn't just about houses; it's about the communities themselves. And I think sometimes we forget that if we're going to have people in genuine homes then we have to look after the people and the communities around them. So we'll now be able to not just simply say "Let's build a house." but to say "Let's build a community including the infrastructure the parks dealing with the reserves issues the drainage and all of those wider issues so that we've got a proper comprehensive joined-up plan."So it's a really fantastic initiative by the Minister; a fantastic Minister. The complaint time and again—and I can understand it over the last nine years—is that business and industry don't know what's coming next. This Government is absolutely committed to giving long-term certainty so that businesses can plan ahead. And this is just one example of that.Only the other day we were debating the New Zealand Infrastructure Commission/Te Waihanga Bill—another example of the Government taking a long-term approach and giving certainty to many sectors so that we can say "Look here's what's coming; here is the Government's view of what development should look like."; whether that be infrastructure rail transport or in this case homes and communities.So I'm very pleased to be able to bring this report back to the House and identify that we will now have a great planning framework so that builders developers and property owners out there will be able to make their plans knowing exactly what is needed and exactly where it's going to be going.I also just want to mention—because I think it's important especially this week—the considerable debate we had over Te Tiriti clauses. The fact is that this bill really puts Māori interests front and centre in a number of ways. Clause 4 of the bill essentially summarises that. In particular and this is worth noting section 11(1)(b) sets out that Kīnga Ora has to have the capability and capacity "(i) to uphold the Treaty of Waitangi (Te Tiriti …) and its principles;". That's actually quite important because whilst in many operational pieces of legislation the principles of the Treaty are referred to here we've got a statement of upholding the Treaty of Waitangi. That I think for New Zealand is a step forward to say "Well we've taken account of the Treaty through its principles now we're going to look at the Treaty itself." So I want to recognise that and recognise the hard work that was done around that by our officials in Parliamentary Counsel. Even though it wasn't actually changed I just wanted to identify the significance of that in the bill.And of course we know that in terms of housing our Māori communities are the communities that are the least well-off the least likely to own their own home the most likely to be paying a large portion of their income in rent and sadly the most likely to have precarious housing or no housing at all. Again it is identified here that one of the functions is to support and enable the aspirations of Māori in relation to urban development. It's really important to recognise that this isn't about home ownership alone; this is about creating homes for people to live in in the way which is best for them given their life circumstances and given the time where they are in their lives—whether that be in a rental or in some other shared accommodation arrangement which we haven't really discussed but we absolutely need to explore or whether it be through home ownership of one kind or another.Also recognising the empowerment and the recognition that Kāinga Ora will be able to partner with others including local bodies. So in clause 13 the "Functions of Kāinga Ora" there were some changes made in there just to expand on the ability of Kāinga Ora to enter into those relationships including entering into financing relationships—for example with local authorities which we know happens on occasion already and other entities. "Other entities" is a broad brush indeed; whether it be a commercial provider who wants to get into the social housing area or even conceivably other housing or simply a commercial development that needs some additional assistance. Well if they're providing houses for New Zealand I'm sure the Minister would listen carefully to them.So financing is one of the things but also partnerships. It's important to recognise the again vast and undefined array of partnerships that we could have here. A fantastic idea that ownership across the board whether it be public-private public-community whatever it might be—it's all here. So this is yet again a fantastic example of the Government taking one of those truly tough problems getting it and getting on and solving the problem; not solving it for the next election because we know there's still going to be need for houses in a year's time but solving it for three 10 and 30 years. It is a framework where we can get on and put people in homes—homes that are right for them homes that are good for New Zealanders and I am very proud to commend this bill to the House."