7. Question No. 7—Housing (Homelessness)NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness)Question No. 7—Housing (Homelessness)7. NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness): Does the Aotearoa/New Zealand Homelessness Action Plan aim to reduce the use of emergency accommodation such as motels; if so how many more people are living in motels today compared to when the plan was announced in February 2020?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON (Associate Minister of Housing (Homelessness)): Yes. Our ultimate goal with the Homelessness Action Plan is to get people into stable quality homes. And we also have to make sure people who need urgent shelter are able to get it. The past year has been hugely tough for many more people and that has meant over the period from February 2020 when we launched the action plan to now we are providing an additional 983 emergency COVID response housing places an additional 148 transitional motel places and there are an additional 2162 clients receiving the emergency housing special needs grants. This is for people to get the immediate shelter they need since we launched the action plan to proactively get people into safety and shelter during the lockdowns and as a step towards long-term housing and we know we need to do more.Nicola Willis: Can she assure New Zealanders that emergency housing arrangements funded by the Government are safe for the people living in them and for the people living near them?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: It is absolutely imperative that everyone is able to live in safe housing situations no matter what type of situation that is. This is why we are focusing on prioritising people into transitional housing where there are further wraparound social supports provided. It is not a priority to keep people in emergency housing situations; we know that is not acceptable. I want all families to be living in safe housing situations.Nicola Willis: Is she concerned by reports that children are being co-located in emergency accommodation with 501s and gang members engaging in violent and criminal behaviour?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Yes I am concerned that any child is having to live in any emergency housing situation at this time. Again everyone has a right to be in a safe living situation. Again this is why the Government through the action plan is prioritising moving families and people into transitional housing as soon as possible. It is why we are proud to have announced an additional 1000 transitional houses already this year with Minister Woods and me. We have a further 2000 transitional houses planned. Can I just add that we need to absolutely address the drivers of crime and violence that moving people into secure housing goes a long way towards increasing the safety for all families and that we must make sure that we do not stigmatise any one group or community with crime that we understand that will not help us address the drivers of crime—and supports that research that has shown to have been proven when we talk about crime. Thank you Mr Speaker.Nicola Willis: Does she stand by her comments on Twitter accusing those raising public safety concerns about emergency accommodation as having racist and classist undertones" and what is racist or classist about people raising concerns about the safety of emergency accommodation?SPEAKER: The member has to answer one of the four.Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Yes I absolutely stand behind every word that I discuss on my social media platforms because as my previous answer indicated I am very clear that every person and child deserves to be living in safe situations; that we must address the drivers of crime across the entire community not just in emergency housing situations; and that if we continue with a narrative that doesn't understand the systemic causes we will go no further in progressing the reduction of crime.Debbie Ngarewa-Packer: Does the Homelessness Action Plan implement all of the recommendations of the 2016 Cross-Party Homelessness Inquiry led by Labour Greens and Te Paati Māori?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: Thank you for the question. The Homelessness Action Plan pulls together a range of responses to that fabulous inquiry that I was pleased to be a part of. I am pleased that the Government is prioritising all of the 18 actions—all of the actions—from that Homelessness Action Plan and that work was the result of finally getting a Government that even admitted that we have a housing crisis and was the result of finally even having a national strategy to address homelessness. That inquiry is why we have for the first time a Minister in charge of homelessness. Those are monumental steps that arose out of that work hearing firsthand exactly how bad the situation is and actually acknowledging that we have a problem.Nicola Willis: Is she accusing New Zealanders who raise concerns about their safety in relation to increased numbers of people in emergency accommodation as being racist?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: I am accusing a member a National member of this House of attempting to stigmatise a group of people with little access to power and resourcing of attempting to whip up stigmatising and dehumanising narratives around groups of people who need our support around groups of people who need us to address the systemic causes of crime. Yes I am accusing a National member of raising that dehumanising narrative.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Point of order Mr Speaker. I wonder if you would advise whether you believe that answer met the requirements of Speaker's ruling 44/1.SPEAKER: If the member would just give me a little time. Thank you. I think it's fair to say that the member went up to the edge of that. She was asked very directly a question about it. She addressed the question. I think if she had answered the question in that particular manner it might well have breached 44/1. I think the Minister answering the question successfully skirted around the Speaker's ruling by using the suggestion that a narrative was being promoted. She did not say a member was racist.Hon Michael Woodhouse: On that point I don't want you to respond to this but it—SPEAKER: No no it's all right. This is a very important issue but I do want it to be heard in silence—all comments on this—because this is a matter of extreme importance and sensitivity.Hon Michael Woodhouse: Thank you Mr Speaker. In my original point I should have mentioned Speaker's ruling 44/2 as well. I won't ask you to respond necessarily right now but I do believe the question of a mention in a demeaning way referring to a party not just a member—actually it didn't skirt around the issue but was central to the issue that is the point of 44/2.Hon Chris Hipkins: In order to violate 44/2 the Minister would have had to have used the word "racist". She did not; the member asking the question did.Nicola Willis: The word "racist" was used by the Minister in the quote that I used in the question.SPEAKER: Yes and to be absolutely clear I am never going to take responsibility for members' tweets.Hon Kiritapu Allan: Ha ha!SPEAKER: Who was that? Was that Angela?Hon Kiritapu Allan: No it was me.SPEAKER: Right. Well the member will stand withdraw and apologise.Hon Kiritapu Allan: I withdraw and apologise.SPEAKER: Standing Orders and Speakers' rulings relate to occurrences in the House. I think all of us—all of us—have made tweets at some—well no I won't say "all of us"; it's a general reflection. Many of us will have made tweets on occasions that do not contain parliamentary language or contain suggestions which are allowed outside the House. Other people can say it and we can say it outside but we can't say it inside. That's the way that our rules work. The fact that someone made a comment which other members find offensive by way of Twitter—frankly if that was the case there would be two or three members who would be constantly before the Privileges Committee.Hon Chris Hipkins: That's you Bish!Chris Bishop: Hey!SPEAKER: That was one each and you're both lucky. But the rules are clear: people can breach privilege by way of Twitter but not in that way.Nicola Willis: Can she confirm that in the five months since becoming a Minister she has not taken a single paper to Cabinet committee or Cabinet and has not issued a single press release?Hon MARAMA DAVIDSON: We are lucky that—SPEAKER: Order! The member will resume her seat. That does not relate to the question."