Pillay Lynne: Building Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Pillay Lynne: Building Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Sitting date: 13 March 2008. Volume:645;Page:14922. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
LYNNE PILLAY (Labour—Waitakere) 
: 
 Once again we have heard the member who spoke previously Dr Nick Smith criticising and being incredibly critical and using the old National mantra about there being increased bureaucracy in councils. We heard all about that last night. We heard the myths and legends that that party created around the Waitakere Ranges Heritage Area Bill and we hear them now in this case when we are looking at the Building Amendment Bill. We are actually looking at ensuring that there is more accountability more safety and— 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: More costs. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: —more investment actually in the industry. 
Let us look at the real story and facts around homeownership. Has there been a reduction in homeownership rates? Yes there has. That is happening in every developed country and this Labour-led Government is now finding ways to address that. How are we doing that? We have introduced the Welcome Home Loan scheme which has helped well over 3000 Kiwis get into their first home. The National Party of course did not vote for that legislation; it voted against it. 
In terms of our KiwiSaver scheme which is something that we will see the benefits of in years to come the good thing is that not only is it a wonderful scheme for getting people involved in saving for their superannuation but also it is of really tangible assistance to first-home buyers. How does it work? I can see John Carter looking puzzled. John Carter’s mum would be very interested in this. His party did not support KiwiSaver and why not? I find that really tragic. It offends me to the hilt. 
But what is so great about the KiwiSaver scheme is that once people have saved for 3 years or more to buy their first home they can take out those savings and use them as a deposit on a house. A tax credit from the Government and the employers’ contribution which will be starting in April of this year will also go into the deposit. On top of that those people will get $1000 gifted towards that deposit from the Labour-led Government after a maximum of 5 years. So let us look at it. A young couple or an older couple who want to buy a house and who are part of KiwiSaver get their savings the tax credits from the Government the employer contribution plus an extra $10000 to put towards buying that house. That is helping our homeownership rates and that is what this Government is about. 
We are also introducing a shared equity scheme and that will be rolled out in the very near future. That will assist in the future our families our people to own their own home. We are also introducing new legislation that will assist the process—assist the bureaucracy as the National Opposition would say—and look at the construction of medium-priced homes in communities so that low to middle income families can afford to buy their own home. 
Whilst we are talking about housing let us look at Hobsonville. 
Bob Clarkson 
: What a disaster. 
LYNNE PILLAY 
: “What a disaster.” the member says about a development that will deliver 3000 houses. Which member had the cheek to stand and oppose that development at public meetings? “I do not want Housing New Zealand Corporation houses. I do not want low to medium density housing on my patch. Oh no not in Hobsonville!”. Who was that member? It was the very slippery Mr John Key—“Slippery John”. We have not heard from John and it will be interesting to know whether he will take a call on this today to answer our questions on this. Mr John Key the leader of the National Party opposed that development happening in Hobsonville and he wound up a storm about affordable housing in his own electorate. I say shame on him. 
Whilst we are on the subject let us talk about why we have problems in the building industry. I heard Nick Smith talk about dodgy developers. Which Government deregulated that industry? Which Government scrapped the Apprenticeship Act? Which Government said: “Hey we do not really need apprentices. We will not support apprentices any more.”? It was the previous National Government. We had the loss of those skills and tradespeople so many of whom were in the building industry—we are looking at building here—and they were just part of a declining mass of workers under the National Government. 
I am really proud that this Government has reintroduced apprenticeships. We are now seeing far more young apprentices and older apprentices getting skills and training in those vital areas of construction and manufacturing and our country is all the richer for it. 
The Building Amendment Bill is about ensuring that quality homes and buildings meet New Zealanders’ needs and it re-establishes our reputation for world-class quality construction. The Building Act was significant legislation in 2004 and it was expected at the time that it would need updating to maximise its effectiveness. With more robustness and accountability into the process at the top end where it matters we will ensure that our buildings are built correctly the first time that costs will be lower over the lifetime of the building and that the stress and anxiety homeowners experience will simply not be there or certainly will not be as much of a stress and a challenge as it has been in the past. We will continue to work on refining the risks and the cost balance when we are building and within the building sector. 
I am really proud to commend this bill to the House. I know that it does go a long way towards what we want to see. I know that it gives more certainty to those people who are building their first home or building a home per se. It also gives certainty to those people who are buying a home that they know they are getting a quality product that the work has been done and as Nick Smith would say that the bureaucracy has been carried out. They will have more certainty that they have a more professional product and they will not face the stress and anxiety they faced under the policies that that National Party over there introduced when it was in Government. I commend this bill to the House.