Turei MetiriaMETIRIA TUREI (Co-Leader—Green): Oh Good Lord! I am so glad that is over.Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER: No. It is just the dear old Deputy Speaker.METIRIA TUREI: Thank you Mr Deputy Speaker. So it really is a bit rich listening to that member Matt Doocey lecture this House on the regulations on housing standards. I mean this Government of which he is a part has had 9 years to enforce exactly those regulations 9 years to put standards around those regulations so people know what it is that they have to do in order to meet them and 9 years to enforce those regulations so we do not have—what—600000 homes in this country still uninsulated still damp and still causing their families sickness.And it is Poto Williams" Mr Doocey—it is "Poto Williams". It is not that hard to say.We have had this debate in this House about housing standards for years and years. Last year we had that ridiculous bill from Nick Smith who also decided to stand up here and lecture us all about it. It was a bill that put in place fire alarms—that is fine—and a 1978 standard of home insulation for—Peeni Henare: When?METIRIA TUREI: 1978. I was 8 years old in 1978—yes I am that old.Peeni Henare: 1978—Seymour wasn't born.METIRIA TUREI: Ha ha! It was a 1978 standard of home insulation for homes that families are having to live in in 2017. I mean it was an utter utter disgrace. At the time that Nick Smith's bill was going through the Social Services Committee we had submission after submission from those involved in health and those involved in child advocacy saying: "This is wrong. This bill is wrong because it will not save these children's lives." The Children's Commissioner came to that select committee and he said that Nick Smith's 1978 standard was a broken promise to New Zealand's children—a broken promise to New Zealand's children. The Government had said that it would set the standard not only so that children's lives would be saved but so that all children would have a decent healthy standard of living in these rental homes. The Government National broke that promise.I am here to support Andrew Little's bill because Andrew Little's bill restores some faith in the promise that New Zealand homes can be and should be insulated to a standard that protects those children stops them from getting so sick that there are 40000 hospitalisations every year and protects those up to 15 children who will die every year because the homes that they live in are cold and damp and make them sick one time too many. That is what the Children's Commissioner told us at the time that Nick Smith's bill was going through select committee—that up to 15 children a year die because of illnesses that are caused by cold damp homes.We know—and my colleague Ruth Dyson has clearly articulated this as well this evening—how critical it is to every single family in this country that they have a home that is warm and dry and safe. I am very pleased that we are supporting Andrew Little's bill because it goes a long way towards putting in those standards to make that possible.I would also note from the speech of that member who just spoke before me when he was talking about those regulations and why they were not so necessary that one of the biggest issues that was raised at the Government Administration Committee on Andrew Little's bill was the fact that tenants were unable to enforce the existing regulations. They could not enforce them because access to the Tenancy Tribunal was too difficult because access to the information about what the standards were and whether or not they were met was too difficult and for fear that raising any issue around the standard of their housing would lead to them being evicted. They have no legal protection. Remember a tenant has zero legal protection if they complain to a landlord because a landlord can make up a reason for kicking them out and kick them out. They may try to take a case at the tribunal but that does not mean that they have got anywhere to live.So these tenants are unable to enforce even the poor standards that have been put in place and that is an issue that this Government has known about now for a decade nearly and has still refused to do anything about it. So do not stand here and lecture us about those standards. We actually need real law that makes it very clear to landlords as to what their obligations are and that means the standards that are set are set at a 2017 standard and not a 1978 one that the regulations are clear about how those standards can be tested to ensure that they are met and that there are good enforcement and protected rights for tenants so that they are able to enforce those rights even in a market where renting is very expensive and demand is high.It is absolutely critical that this bill proceeds because families' health and children's lives are dependent on it. So while we have talked in political terms about housing in this House and we do so nearly every day—and that is part of the political discourse and the argument we have here—there are times when we need to just focus on what is important. What is important is that kids are living in homes that make them sick and sometimes lead some to die. We can fix that. We can help fix that tonight by getting this bill through to the next stage. I would strongly urge members to think first about those families and their kids. Thank you."