Mackey Moana: Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
Mackey Moana: Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee Speaker Recalled In Committee Procedure Third Reading 
[Volume:669;Page:16099] 
MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
: 
 I will talk about a different topic in Part 1 of the Taxation (GST and Remedial Matters) Bill. I will talk about the provisions in relation to accommodation and will seek some clarity from the Minister in the chair the Minister of Revenue. 
I understand that clause 4 amends the definitions of “commercial dwelling” and “dwelling”. I believe there has been some expansion of what the term “dwelling” was originally meant to apply to and that it now includes more than was originally intended so the definitions of “commercial dwelling” and “dwelling” have been clarified to better determine which types of accommodation fall within the ambit of them. Of course the importance of doing this is that we do not want to create too much disparity between people who own their own homes and people who rent their homes. I note that the definition of “commercial dwelling” has been amended to mean “a hotel motel homestay farmstay bed and breakfast establishment inn hostel or boardinghouse:”. I understand that it would apply to student accommodation; I am not sure whether it does. I imagine it would in which case the cost of GST being payable on that service would be passed down to the students in that accommodation. The definition also applies to a serviced apartment nursing home rest home hospice and camping ground but excludes a hospital without a residential component and retirement villages in certain circumstances. 
The part I question is the inclusion of boarding houses in the definition of “commercial dwelling”. I have read this bill I am taking it at face value and I just want some clarification. I may be finding some mischief that is not there but my concern is that as a member of the Social Services Committee that worked on residential tenancies legislation I know that the issue of boarding houses was very very complicated with regard to where they fell within even that legislation. So when it comes to whether such an establishment would attract GST I question the propriety of including boarding houses as commercial dwellings. We know that people who live in boarding houses are basically in a rental situation. They are by and large the most vulnerable rental tenants we have in this country. I know that the housing Minister who is in the Chamber agrees that there are a lot of issues in relation to boarding houses. The select committee that worked on residential tenancies legislation worked very hard to try to find out how we could protect those tenants. The understanding of that select committee in looking at tenancy legislation was that those people are in a rental situation. They probably need more protection than the average tenant who rents because they often live in substandard accommodation they tend to be people who have significant mental health issues or drug and alcohol issues and they are not the kinds of people who will speak up or speak out if they believe they are being unfairly treated or the law is not being applied. So the inclusion of boarding houses in the definition of “commercial dwelling” worries me. It may not be a big deal at all it may not be an issue but when I saw that boarding houses were included in that definition it really jumped out at me given the extraordinary amount of work that went on this year in terms of the definition of a boarding house. 
Added to this is that I also note that throughout the bill it references definitions “as defined in section X”—or Y or Z—“of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986”. Well this year Parliament passed the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010. I seek some kind of assurance that despite the fact Part 1 references tenancy law from the 1980s it is still appropriate because we have actually made significant changes to residential tenancy law. A lot of those changes relate to boarding houses and boarding-house tenants. The definition of a boarding house under the 1986 Act and how it was treated in tenancy law changed significantly in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Act 2010. I know that this might not seem like the kind of issue people would expect to be discussing when debating what started out as a technical tax bill but has now become a more substantial one but whenever I see the issue of boarding houses as the housing spokesperson for Labour I am concerned. I want to make sure that costs will not be passed down to boarding-house tenants because that particular type of dwelling attracts GST when in another rental situation that would not be the case.