Ardern Shane: Building Bill — In Committee 
Ardern Shane: Building Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:619;Page:14789] 
SHANE ARDERN (National—Taranaki-King Country) 
: 
 Can I just start by acknowledging the fine work of the officials. They did a lot of work for the National Party as well as for the rest of the Government Administration Committee in terms of answering questions during the select committee process. Can I also acknowledge the rest of the committee who worked hard under the chairmanship of Dianne Yates. There is no doubt that they went through hours of work—and then came up with this 358 pages of bureaucratic nonsense. Can I also challenge the member Clayton Cosgrove for his comments earlier on about sticking up for the Kiwi battler. Because here is the interesting thing. On the  
Holmes  
show last night I saw a Kiwi battler; a young mother who had lost her husband at a very early age in the member’s electorate— 
Hon Member 
: Where was it? 
SHANE ARDERN 
: It was on the  
Holmes  
show last night. Because of the fine work she had done for the community post the death of her husband under very tight circumstances the community came together in a voluntary capacity and did her house up—did a major update of her house. Now the question I need to ask the Minister in the chair John Tamihere and the officials is: “Could they have done that work post this bill being passed?”. The answer is “No they could not.” That group of volunteers who went into that member’s electorate and upgraded that lady’s house would be severely compromised in doing their work under this legislation. That is the test; that is where the acid test hits the road. We have the do-it-yourselfers like the group that went in over a weekend and completely rebuilt that house. They would now be put under so much red tape and regulation that that fine piece of community work could not take place. 
I say to the Minister in the chair John Tamihere—and I have not read his book yet; I promise that I will—that in his book I am sure it will refer to the Kiwi battler; the poor person who grew up in poor housing. Let me tell members that in no way could the sharemilker’s cottage of 800 square feet that I grew up in be described as a castle. The old man used to say that when one opened the fridge door the cold air rushed in! I know that that was one of the ways the cottage was described; but it was never described as a castle I can tell members that! 
Let me tell members that this legislation would make that very substantial dwelling of 800 square feet much more expensive. Let me tell members that it leaked like a sieve was full of mould and it was the most horrible house that one could live in during one’s life. This legislation will not stop that from happening. That house was built with untreated rimu with the cladding of the time which was rusticated weatherboard with eaves with sash windows and a corrugated iron roof. It would have met all the standards that this bill meets in terms of a building standard. There was no insulation. 
Dr Wayne Mapp 
: It was well ventilated! 
SHANE ARDERN 
: Well when the southerly wind blew one had to stand on the carpet to hold it down otherwise it was up around one’s ears! Certainly the curtains moved when the wind blew from one direction or the other. 
This bill will not improve that house one iota. In fact if the Green Party had its way the house would be treated as a heritage building and we would not be allowed even to alter it. It would have to stay in its original state. 
Stopbanks are another issue. We have had this horrendous flood up in the Bay of Plenty and also in the Manawatu. We look for reasons why that happened—apart from the fact that it rained for 3 days on end which is something the Government cannot be blamed for unfortunately otherwise we would although we may be able to figure out a way to do that. The reason so much land went under water was that the stopbanks failed. As my colleague the member from Karapiro said nowhere does this bill mention faulty stopbanks or the construction of stopbanks. Clearly that issue could have been addressed but was not. 
Small business is the backbone of this country and it is interesting to note that the Minister in the chair the Hon John Tamihere is also the Minister for Small Business. For the benefit of Clayton Cosgrove “small business” describes the man with the ute the radio and the dog. He is the Kiwi battler out there; the very person we are talking about but he will not be able to survive under these heavy regulations. Imagine a copy of this legislation on the seat of the ute underneath the dog!