11. Question No. 11—Housing (Public Housing)NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing)Question No. 11—Housing (Public Housing)11. NICOLA WILLIS (National) to the Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing): Does she have confidence in the way Kāinga Ora is implementing its sustainable tenancies" policy and what advice if any has she had about whether Kāinga Ora's policy to "preserve and not terminate tenancies" has placed it in breach of its obligations as a landlord under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986?Hon POTO WILLIAMS (Associate Minister of Housing (Public Housing)): To the first part of the member's question yes. The sustaining tenancies policy was initiated in early 2017 and it provides Kāinga Ora with a range of tools to address issues of disruptive behaviour which include working at a local level to provide the support needed to resolve these issues. It can also include the relocation of tenants and as I advised the House last week this has occurred on 159 occasions in the past year. In answer to the second part of the member's question I've received a briefing from Kāinga Ora on recent incidents of disruptive behaviour and how they are continuing to implement the sustaining tenancies policy. However it's a longstanding convention that Ministers do not comment directly on individual judicial matters or provide legal opinions to the House.Nicola Willis: Has she directed Kāinga Ora to review how it deals with abusive tenants following a series of harrowing stories in which innocent tenants have been persistently terrorised by their neighbours and if not why not?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: Kāinga Ora takes issues of disruptive behaviour seriously and I encourage anyone with concerns to raise them with Kāinga Ora. There's no doubt that the current situation that tenants are experiencing in Whangārei in particular is particularly distressing. This is a hard situation that we are facing here. Kāinga Ora has taken the sustaining tenancies programme they've improved it they've added tools to the tool kit. But if I can quote the member herself evictions are not always the answer. It is a requirement of this Government to support people to sustain their homes because the alternative would mean children being homeless and people living in cars.Nicola Willis: Why should frightened tenants take this Minister seriously when despite warnings about their case last week an elderly Whangārei couple were this weekend forced to cower inside their home after their abusive Kāinga Ora neighbours held a Black Power party at which a police officer was allegedly assaulted and a patrol car compromised?SPEAKER: Order! Order! That question doesn't go to this Minister's responsibilities.Nicola Willis: Mr Speaker a point of order. If I just clarify what I said in the question I asked her about why tenants should take the Minister's expressions of concern seriously—SPEAKER: That is exactly where she missed because she has no responsibility for their views.Chris Bishop: Good grief.SPEAKER: Order! Was that Mr Bennett or Mr Bishop who made that comment then? There was a comment made by one of those two members. Mr Bennett did you make a comment?Chris Bishop: I said "good grief". That's all.SPEAKER: You said what?Chris Bishop: Good grief.SPEAKER: At my ruling?Chris Bishop: Well I muttered it—yes.SPEAKER: The member will stand withdraw and apologise.Chris Bishop: I withdraw and apologise.SPEAKER: And the loss of one supplementary as a result of that.Nicola Willis: Is it sufficient for Kāinga Ora to just relocate chronically abusive tenants when one such relocated tenant now living in Naenae has gone on to terrorise his new neighbour including reportedly threatening to kill him while wielding a spade?Hon POTO WILLIAMS: It's never acceptable behaviour. Kāinga Ora work very hard to ensure that all tenants can ensure safe and peaceful tenancies. They use the sustaining tenancies tool which wraps support around tenants and neighbours to ensure that in the vast proportion of cases situations are resolved. These are difficult hard complex cases but I can advise the House that by and large the tools that Kāinga Ora uses in this regard have worked. They have been improved since the time the National Party introduced them and they continue to work in most cases. However there are cases where they are very difficult—they are very hard. That is when Kāinga Ora insists that if the sustaining tenancies initial policy doesn't work then they move to relocate. If that doesn't work then termination of tenancies will occur.Nicola Willis: Supplementary.SPEAKER: No. Well the member's actually had one extra supplementary which I'll deal with tomorrow but question No. 12: Willow-Jean Prime."