Kaye Nikki: Building Amendment Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Kaye Nikki: Building Amendment Bill (No 4) — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 01 May 2012. Volume:679;Page:1830. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
NIKKI KAYE (National—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I am pleased to speak on the Building Amendment Bill (No 4). I want to start by acknowledging the Minister for Building and Construction the Hon Maurice Williamson and I also acknowledge Nicky Wagner the chair of our Local Government and Environment Committee. I think it is really important to acknowledge that we have got support across the House from Labour and the Green Party. I do recognise Andrew Williams and the contribution he has made. I think it is important as well to take a step back and look at the history in this area. We know that there was significant reform in 2004 and I want to acknowledge Clayton Cosgrove and Shane Jones for the contributions that they made. 
But I do want to address an issue that was raised by Phil Twyford previously in the debate. He said the leaky homes crisis was ground zero. He made a number of comments about the 1990s but do you know what he never mentioned? He never mentioned that the last Labour Government actually denied that there was a leaky homes crisis. I was a researcher in this building at the time and I watched for a significant period of time when the last Labour Government actually would not even acknowledge that it was an issue. I do want to say that subsequently there was reform in 2004 but I do want to correct that piece of history because I think it is important for this debate.  
Hon Lianne Dalziel 
: We set up the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. Is that not acknowledging the problem? 
NIKKI KAYE 
: The member opposite is making comments about the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. What that member does not realise is that I actually was a researcher who helped draft a piece of legislation that went to Michael Cullen and that formed the basis of the Weathertight Homes Resolution Service. So she may not be aware of that. 
Secondly I just want to talk as well about the contribution to the sector that the construction industry does make. It is worth $20 billion 170000 people are employed in the construction sector and it is worth 5 percent of our GDP. So we need to acknowledge this evening how important this sector is to New Zealand. 
I also want to touch on some comments that have been made about the Canterbury rebuild and housing affordability in Auckland. We know that it is very important to have this legislation through the House but also the reform around the Resource Management Act because we have several significant issues in New Zealand. Part of the issue is around what is the best regulatory environment. The other issue is around the Resource Management Act and whether we have got our consenting provisions right. But the key thing I want to mention and it is actually mentioned in the regulatory impact statement is that this has been driven by a number of things that did not happen in 2004. I want to read this statement from the regulatory impact statement: “While consumer support was emphasised in the Building Act 2004 through a purpose statement and implied warranties no specific measures were included to assist consumers to understand their rights enforce their rights or hold practitioners to account other than through the disputes tribunal … and the courts.” So I think that is a very important point because all of the provisions within this legislation make a number of changes that are targeted to ensure that consumers can enforce their rights and I want to mention some of those changes. 
We are obviously focusing on three things. The first thing is there is going to be a bit of a stick there. So we are going to increase the penalties from $100000 to $200000 for failing to comply with building consent requirements. The second thing we are going to do is to ensure that there are written contracts for residential work and that is about again protecting the consumer. The third thing we are going to focus on is to ensure that building contractors are more accountable by requiring disclosure of information. That will include information about their company and the people who carry out work and their track record. I think that is a really important point because we need to ensure that there is greater transparency around those practitioners who are out there. 
I am pleased to be supporting this legislation. I think the key and the major change of this legislation is that homeowners are going to be able to better identify the difference between a professional and someone who may be considered as not a professional in this industry. I think we need to recognise the huge contribution that the construction industry makes to New Zealand—5 percent of our GDP. I think we also need to reflect on our history and we need to be honest about that history: the contribution that has been made by the last Labour Government but also the fact that the reason we are here is that there was not the ability in the 2004 reform to ensure that consumers were adequately protected. That is why I am glad that there is support across the House to be able to address this and that the bill will go to the Local Government and Environment Committee. I am very pleased to support this legislation in the House. Thank you.