6. Question No. 6—Housing and Urban DevelopmentHon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura) to the Minister of Housing and Urban DevelopmentQuestion No. 6—Housing and Urban Development6. Hon JUDITH COLLINS (National—Papakura) to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development: Does he stand by his statement last Thursday in regard to an additionality test on KiwiBuild developments The assessment is embodied in a whole lot of other communications" and "they're going to get back to the National Party Research Unit this afternoon with that documentation"?Hon PHIL TWYFORD (Minister of Housing and Urban Development): Yes I said in this House that the ministry would clarify its response to the National Party research unit. I understand that officials sat down with the member yesterday to explain the assessment process to her and her advisers and the types of documentation they have. When answering questions on the bridge it was that process of clarifying I was referring to when I said the ministry would get back to the National Party research unit. The public release of departmental information is of course a matter for the chief executive under the Official Information Act.Hon Judith Collins: When he told Radio New Zealand last week that "they're going to get back to the National Party Research Unit this afternoon with that documentation" why is he now saying that he meant they were going to clarify something?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well as I told the media at the time I was aware that there were documents and that the ministry was going to clarify its response. I was not informed of the nature of the documents and that is a matter for the chief executive to assess against the grounds in the Official Information Act.Hon Judith Collins: Was he then simply not aware having been in the role for 18 months what the process is that his ministry has been working to around KiwiBuild?Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well the answer is yes I am aware and I'm a little surprised that the member is requesting the release of documents that are commercially sensitive. I'm sure she understands that if documents that are generated in the course of commercial negotiations are released to the National Party research unit they are released publicly so all of the developer's competitors would have access to those commercially sensitive documents. Surely the member can see that's completely untenable. Paul Eagle: What reports has he seen on additional house construction as a result of Government action including KiwiBuild? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: I've seen consent data that shows that Government agencies are now building more homes than at any time since the 1970s and as well as the approximately 2300 State houses currently under construction we are working with the private sector to build more affordable homes. Now working with developers on programmes like KiwiBuild is a small part of what we're doing but we make no apology for working with the private sector to build the modest affordable homes that Kiwis desperately need and that that party made no effort to build through nine years in Government. Hon Judith Collins: If that's so—what the Minister has said today to Parliament—then why did he say to Radio New Zealand last Thursday that "they're going to get back to the National Party Research Unit this afternoon with that documentation" rather than saying now that it's all commercially sensitive and couldn't be released? Why has he changed his mind? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well I haven't changed my mind. I told Radio New Zealand and assembled media that there were other documents that were involved that the matter that we were discussing of additionality was embodied in those documents and that the ministry would get back to them and clarify the situation and that's exactly what has happened. I ask the member to lift her horizons and consider the importance of building affordable houses that Kiwis desperately need instead of endlessly nit-picking in the trivia and the minor operational details. Hon Judith Collins: Will the recalibration of KiwBuild drop the additionality tests as well as the 100000 houses target? Hon PHIL TWYFORD: Well I expect that in June we'll be releasing the results of the reset of KiwiBuild but I would say this to the member: this Government will not back away from building large numbers of affordable homes for Kiwis building more State housing reforming the rental market housing homeless people reforming the planning system and infrastructure financing—all of the things that are part of our housing programme that that party never did for nine years in office."