Twyford PhilPHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū): I am very happy to be following on from a couple of excellent contributions from my colleagues—Kris Faafoi who made an impassioned speech about the failure of this Government to live up to its rhetoric about helping vulnerable New Zealanders and also the superb contribution from the deputy leader of the Labour Party Jacinda Ardern on the hollow that lies behind the Government's talk of social investment.I want to talk about housing because if there is one issue that shows that this National Government has run out of ideas and given up it is housing. Let us look at the numbers because they are quite shocking. New Zealand's rate of homeownership is now the lowest it has been since 1951. The Auckland average house price has doubled since National has been in office and the housing crisis is now spreading around the country. We are seeing extreme homelessness in Blenheim in Dunedin in Taupō in Tauranga—all over New Zealand. This sickness is spreading. One in seven properties in Auckland is being purchased by a property speculator who owns multiple properties—five six seven eight properties. That is how bad it is.But put the numbers aside because this is deeply personal. Andrew Little has a son called Cam. Like me—I have a son. His name is Harry. He is a bit older than Andrew's Cam who is a teenager. But his son and my son—their generations do not stand a chance of achieving their dream of affordable homeownership. They are locked out. Their generation does not stand a chance under the policies of this Government. [Interruption]The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): Order! We are not going to have this cross-bench—[Interruption] The member will sit. We are not going to have this. I am calling Phil Twyford to carry on—Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No. I know what you are going to be saying.Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: You can take a point of order in this Parliament. I would just like Ms Dyson to withdraw and apologise for an unparliamentary remark.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No no. I am in control of this. The member will sit. [Interruption] I am ruling. The member will sit please.Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I have dealt with it. The Minister will sit. The clock is ticking. It does not stop because of this—Phil Twyford. [Interruption] The member will withdraw and apologise for those comments. That is completely unparliamentary.Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: That is exactly what Ms Dyson just said.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I did not hear it. I am asking the member to withdraw and apologise.Hon Dr Jonathan Coleman: Well you've got to turn up seriously or—OK I withdraw and apologise but you are losing control of the House.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): No no. Sit down. Did Ms Dyson—did she make those unparliamentary comments as well? [Interruption] If the member did I would ask her to withdraw and apologise.Hon Ruth Dyson: No I did not.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): You did not? I take the member's word for it—Phil Twyford.Chris Hipkins: I raise a point of order Mr Chairperson. It is absolutely unacceptable for a Minister of the Crown to tell a presiding officer they are losing control of the House.The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): It is and I am in control of this. I am moving on to Phil Twyford.PHIL TWYFORD: It is deeply personal the housing crisis and I deliberately say to this Committee that—[Interruption]The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): I do not want any more on this subject. I am calling Phil Twyford to continue the debate. I do not want to hear any more about that matter. I have dealt with it.PHIL TWYFORD: I am glad that the member Jonathan Coleman is getting all emotional about this debate because it is deeply personal. When my son and his generation do not stand a chance of ever owning their own home in our country's biggest city when Andrew Little's son Cam and his mates do not stand a chance of ever owning their own homes something is seriously wrong in our country and that is the reason why the housing issue has become the most explosive political issue in New Zealand today. Parents and grandparents from one end of this country to the other feel sick that their children and their grandchildren will never have the opportunity that our generation enjoyed to own their own home. That is why it is deeply personal. That is why housing is the issue that illustrates more than any other why this country needs the fresh approach that a Government led by Andrew Little and Jacinda Ardern will bring.We are approaching the Budget again and the Government is talking up a big game about a Government-backed housebuilding programme. After 8½ years in office the Government has suddenly decided that it might be a good idea if the Government started building houses. But as we think about that let us consider what this Government has done in terms of Budget-time housing policy over the last few years.In 2013 the Government's great Budget housing policy was the Auckland Housing Accord signed 3 years ago by the Hon Dr Nick Smith. What has the housing accord achieved? The Government promised to build 39000 houses. Well it has built fewer than 2000 houses under the Auckland Housing Accord. The Government promised 39000 houses; it has built fewer than 2000.What did the respected analyst Rodney Dickens have to say the other day in his critique of the Government's housing policies? He pointed out that since Nick Smith signed the Auckland Housing Accord in 2013 house prices are up 45 percent land prices are up 52 percent and building costs are up 36 percent. That is the result of the National Government's flagship housing policy.In Budget 2014 the big announcement was that the Government was going to reduce and suspend anti-dumping duties and tariffs on a range of building products. The Government promised it would knock $3500 off the cost of the building supplies needed to build a standard home. What has happened since then? What has happened since Budget 2014 in regard to building supplies? They have got more and more expensive. Instead of saving $3500 off the cost of the building supplies for a new home the cost of wallboard alone has gone up by more than $3500. That was the other great flagship housing policy of this National Government.What happened last year in last year's Budget? The Government announced a $1 billion line of credit so that councils could build infrastructure to allow new homes to be built. We found out in question time today from the Minister for Infrastructure Steven Joyce that not a single new house has been built as a result of that policy. We found out from the Official Information Act that this $1 billion line of credit offered to councils was dreamt up in a brainstorm by a staff member in Bill English's office only 2 weeks before the Government announced it in a speech.Treasury said at the time that it had no advice about the policy because it did not come from officials. It was dreamt up by a political staffer. The absurdity of that policy is that it tried to offer councils cheap credit—councils that are already bumping up against their debt ceiling; they cannot borrow any more money.But this National Government which has borrowed $90 billion since it has been in office—the Government that has borrowed more money than any other Government in New Zealand's history; it has spent the last 8 years criticising councils for borrowing too much—its idea of a solution to the housing crisis was to offer councils more cheap debt. What has happened? The Government has spent the last 12 months trying to fix that problem because the policy was so wrong-headed that none of the councils actually wanted to borrow any of the money that the Government was offering them.What was the other big policy that the Government announced this time last year around the Budget? It made all sorts of big promises about emergency housing for the homeless in the middle of the winter of misery" last year. We found out only a couple of weeks ago that in the last 6 months since Paula Bennett made all those great promises about building extra emergency housing the Government has increased the stock of emergency housing across the whole country—Alfred Ngaro this is your responsibility now. The Government has increased the stock of emergency housing by five beds in 6 months—five beds in 6 months. That is the net increase in emergency housing. Is it any wonder that the Government is spending $100000 a day on housing homeless Kiwi families in motels?This speaks volumes about the bankruptcy the intellectual bankruptcy of this National Government. It has reduced the number of State houses by 2500 and it is selling thousands of State houses around the country. It has added only five extra beds to the stock of emergency housing in 6 months but it is shelling out $100000 a day to moteliers to put up homeless Kiwi families. That says it all about this Government's housing policy.The only good news in this story is that help is on the way. In September the country has the opportunity to vote for a Government that will fix the housing crisis—that will build 100000 affordable homes for first-home buyers in New Zealand. That is the kind of policy the country is crying out for. People want a Labour-led Government that will do what Governments have done for decades—what Labour Governments have done for decades in this country. When there is a mess created by the National Government Labour will come in and fix it. When there is a housing shortage we will build houses. We will build affordable homes for young Kiwi families. We will ban foreign buyers. We will tax speculators. We will change the rules so that renters get a better deal. We will build thousands of new State houses instead of selling them off."