Bradford Sue: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill Building (Consent Authorities) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
Bradford Sue: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill Building (Consent Authorities) Amendment Bill — Third Readings 
[Volume:641;Page:11303] 
SUE BRADFORD (Green) 
: 
 The Green Party supports the third reading of the bills arising from the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill because we agree with the Government and other parties that the amendment is needed. 
Given the nature of the original bill and the fact that we had just finished dealing with a much larger bill on the same topic the select committee process was mercifully brief. The main input from an external body was from the New Zealand Law Society whose opinion had been formally sought because of the legally technical nature of the bill’s content. That august organisation the Law Society agreed with the Government—and I think most if not all of the parties in this House—that the amendment is desirable given the result of a High Court decision of 29 March this year which determined that general damages could not be awarded as compensation for mental anxiety or stress under the weathertight homes legislation. 
As someone who sat on the Social Services Committee when it looked at the earlier bill and heard and read submissions from so many people adversely affected by various forms of leaky building damage it was impossible not to agree with the Government and the Law Society that this court ruling although understandable from a legal perspective should be overturned by Parliament. It is unquestionable that the Weathertight Homes Tribunal should be able to award general damages for the huge mental distress and anxiety that leaky homes have caused so many people and that is what this amending legislation achieves. The Green Party therefore welcomes the unusual speed with which this legislation has completed its progress in the House and looks forward to the clarification it will bring to all involved. 
In finishing however I would like to make one final comment in support of what my colleague Hone Harawira from the Maori Party said in the House during earlier debate on the original bill. Although he acknowledged as the Green Party certainly does the reality of the enormous distress suffered by the owners of homes affected by weathertightness issues we also would like to see a lot more political and public awareness of the realities of housing stress still caused by substandard and inadequate housing in so many communities around Aotearoa New Zealand. A disproportionate number of those living in permanently inadequate unhealthy overcrowded and/or insanitary housing are tangata whenua. Many of them live in places like Tai Rawhiti and Northland. We would like to see the same sort of attention given to the ongoing problems of these New Zealanders—many of whose housing issues are just seen I think as too difficult to fix—as is given to those affected by the leaky homes crisis addressed by the legislation before us today. 
In regards to the second bill that has come out of the original bill—the Building (Consent Authorities) Amendment Bill—the Green Party also supports this because we appreciate the difficulties some local councils have had in meeting the deadline to become registered. Although we think it is a pity that a Supplementary Order Paper had to be introduced in an urgent manner to get the legislation through at the same time we recognise the reality of what the local territorial authorities are facing and we look forward to the day next year when all the authorities are registered.