Little AndrewHEALTHY HOMES GUARANTEE BILL (NO 2)Second ReadingANDREW LITTLE (Leader of the Opposition): I move That the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2) be now read a second time. This is as members on this side of the House will know a very important bill. It is at the very least symbolic about the very important challenges that New Zealand faces today. On this bill the Government Administration Committee received 85 submissions but there have been expressions of support from a large number of people from a number of other quarters as well.The submissions that the select committee received came from organisations and private individuals from the length and breadth of the country. I would like to thank all those who made submissions on the bill and those who made oral submissions in particular and brought their very compelling reasons for support for the bill.There were many private individuals who took the time to support it to express their support for it and to make their valuable comments. The district health boards the New Zealand Medical Association and other medical associations have provided expert support for the bill. And I especially want to mention the Paediatric Society of New Zealand for the invaluable data that it included in its exhaustive The Health Status of Children and Young People in New Zealand. Strong support has been provided by local government social agencies church groups and iwi trusts and then of course those very determined campaigners for social justice and the ending of poverty: the Child Poverty Action Group Community Housing Aotearoa Housing Call to Action and the Tenants Protection Association.Yesterday the Medical Students for Global Awareness along with other medical professionals who are strong supporters of the bill presented me with their expression of support. It was a petition from medical professionals with no fewer than a thousand signatures on it. A public petition supporting the bill which I tabled today attracted more than 30000 signatures.This is a bill whose time has come and for which the issues in it need to be seriously addressed. This bill has wide support because the reality is that we have a housing crisis in New Zealand today. And we all know the dimensions of it. We have the worst homelessness rate in the OECD. The Government is today spending $50 million a year shunting homeless families from one motel to another. That budget has blown out by 1500 percent. The Government is spending 25 times more than it budgeted and the situation is spiralling out of control.This bill will help thousands of people. It will change lives and it will save lives. There is a very simple principle behind this bill: no New Zealander should have to live in a house that makes them or their children sick. Every Kiwi child deserves to grow up in a house that is warm safe and dry. As a parent I would not accept anything less for my son; I do not think there is a New Zealand parent who would accept anything less for their children and this Parliament should not accept anything less for any citizen of New Zealand.The Children's Commissioner tells us that 42000 children a year are turning up to the emergency departments in our hospitals with preventable respiratory conditions. This is what we are trying to fix. That number is intolerable it is wrong it can be fixed and this bill can fix it.Every rental property should be insulated should be weathertight and should have adequate heating. It is not too much to ask. You see it is not just a problem for the poor. It is any tenant—anybody in a rental property. And here is the thing: there are thousands of landlords who are doing the right thing already and who know that it is the right thing to do as a landlord. We have got a housing crisis that is locking middle New Zealand and families out of homeownership and that is why what this bill says is so important. It is about getting it right for those who have to rent. This bill is about standing up for those New Zealanders who have to rent.And so the challenge for the Government is this—and we will see what way it votes tonight. The simple question for the Government is this: whose side is it on? Is it on the side of the slum landlords who do not care about their tenants—push them in pull them out put a new one in and collect the rent—or is it on the side of New Zealanders who have a reasonable expectation that the place they end up renting is going to be safe and healthy for them to do so?Carmel Sepuloni: Whose side are they on?ANDREW LITTLE: And that will be the challenge tonight. Whose side is the Government on?You see responsible landlords are telling us that this is a good bill. It will not impose big costs. When you look at the asset that this is about—a house a private dwelling a residential dwelling—and the life of that asset the costs that this bill will impose on those who have not got their properties up to standard yet will be negligible. But they will be costs that will make a difference—make a difference for children make a difference for adult tenants and help to save lives.Andrew King from the New Zealand Property Investors Federation called the bill sensible and pragmatic. And as I said most landlords are already doing this because the cost is not high. So the question remains for National: whose side is it on? You see Nick Smith hides behind the excuse that we cannot insulate homes fast enough. He says this will impose extra cost but the landlords are telling us this is a reasonable cost to bear if you have not already done the work. You see the Children's Commissioner is calling National's response to the situation shameful and a broken promise. So whose side is it going to be on tonight? Making rentals warm and dry is doable affordable and it is the right thing to do.The select committee considered a number of amendments to this bill and they are all worthy amendments: making the bill consistent with the Government's smoke alarm requirements; increasing the transition time for landlords to comply—so compliance within 90 days of the new regulations coming into effect—giving landlords the right to enter a property on at least 24 hours' notice to make sure things are in order; requiring the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment to create an inspection regime to audit rental properties; specifying more detail on indoor temperatures moisture and humidity standards; and increasing the penalty for failure to meet the standards from $3000 to $4000.As I said before this bill can make a real difference for thousands of Kiwis. I am very grateful for the support that I have had on this bill from the many thousands of New Zealanders who have expressed their support and from the many members of this House. I want to particularly thank Peter Dunne from United Future who has tonight expressed his continuing support for this bill because he knows that this is the right thing to do.No Government should side with slum landlords in this country. No Government should put the interests of slum landlords over the interests of Kiwi kids. This is a bill that can help Kiwi kids who at the moment are in vulnerable unsafe unhealthy homes and stop them having to turn up to hospital with their preventable respiratory conditions.We are in this Parliament to make a difference. We are all in this Parliament to act in the best interests of all New Zealanders and this is a small modest reasonable step that can be taken that ought to make every member of Parliament supporting the bill proud to do so. I urge all MPs—and I urge my colleagues opposite—to do the right thing. Back those New Zealand families who have to rent and back their kids and stop them getting sick any more. It is with great pleasure that I commend the Healthy Homes Guarantee Bill (No 2) to the House.