Hughes GarethGARETH HUGHES (Green): Kia ora Mr Speaker. Ngā mihi nui ki a koutou. Kia ora. The previous speaker Erica Stanford seemed to infer that the people talking about values in this debate were somehow negative. She was disparaging the use of values in Parliament. Now I decry that because I think we need more values in this House. Actually when it comes to housing the values this Government has—which is that housing is a right for Kiwis; that people deserve to live in warm dry homes—that's not waffle; that's core Kiwi values and that's why I'm proud to be here voting in support of legislation in support of those values. If National wants to campaign against values in politics go right ahead. What this legislation is is housing leadership. What it's doing is setting the institutional framework the foundation of resolving the housing crisis that National left the country with. This is the foundation on which we can build the solutions because while National was getting on with cynicism you know negative politics—not actually proposing any solutions mind you—and spent nine years actually denying there was a problem blaming other people for the problem and then not actually addressing the problem this Government's getting on and doing it. So this legislation is housing leadership. It's setting up the new entity Kāinga Ora—Homes and Communities which is not only going to build homes for Kiwis; it's going to house Kiwis in the State sector as well. So this new Crown entity made up of Housing New Zealand HLC and parts of KiwiBuild is going to set the leadership framework. With the Government policy statement embedded in the process to achieve it it's going to get the Government working in a coordinated collaborative fashion with private interests with iwi hapū with community providers. Look it's going to take the Government working with councils iwi hapū and private businesses to actually—Hon David Bennett: The Green excuses.GARETH HUGHES: It's somewhat ironic for the member Bennett to be talking about Green excuses because what the Green Party's actually doing is getting on with the business of building homes in conjunction with our Government partners. Something we're incredibly proud of is the work when it comes to rent-to-own. The $400 million package recently announced is going to make a real difference to Kiwis because those Kiwis who don't have the money for expensive deposits are going to be able to work with the Government to develop the equity in the House through their rent. So we're incredibly proud. We're not making any Green Party excuses Mr Bennett. What we're going to see later on this term is legislation around urban development. What I'm really particularly interested in is the role for the Housing New Zealand tenants. We know thousands of Kiwis are homed in State homes. Now the previous Government of course I think sold off was it 6000—Mr Bennett? I'm sure you can remind us—in the midst of a housing crisis. Now the new social approach this Government's taking the social mandate is making a real difference. I chair the Social Services and Community Committee and earlier this year we saw the legislation to remove letting fees making a real difference for tenants in rental properties. There's legislation and processes supporting tenants. Now what we saw under the previous Government was an absolute waste of taxpayer and private money when it came to that meth scandal. So this legislation is about housing Kiwis and getting on with the process of building houses for Kiwis in terms of planning consent in terms of land in terms of infrastructure and community services. Now something the Green Party has been pushing incredibly strongly as well is not only the rent-to-own scheme but the importance of energy efficiency and sustainability in housing developments in New Zealand not only State but council and private. Now I know Minister Twyford's talked about Homestar 6 which is a wonderful development. We need to be ramping up those energy efficiency standards because not only is it going to save money in the long term—in the short term as well—but also it's about protecting our environment utilising our resources more efficiently. Something the Green Party is going to continue to push for is ramping up private rental standards. Gee it was nearly 10 years ago when I drafted the first legislation to set a minimum standard for rental properties. I toured some of the houses the private rentals in Auckland and Hamilton Wellington Christchurch. Some of the worst I saw of course were in Dunedin which I think were houses that should have been condemned but were rented out for profit by private landlords. So we're going to continue to push for that. Now there's a great deal of innovation and I know Minister Woods recently was at a prefabrication facility noting the rapid cost reductions you can see from prefabrication. That's going to be part of the solution. Obviously tiny houses is a topical issue which has been gathering quite a lot of media attention and I've seen some media reporting—actually academic journals—that have said that New Zealanders have amongst some of the largest houses in the entire world. What I think is important is actually that we get the right size houses for Kiwis and for some smaller homes are not only more affordable more sustainable but more desirable too because they can live in inner-city locations. I was recently in the United Kingdom where I met with officials from Exeter City Council. Now there I was incredibly inspired because they're building all of their council homes to a passive house standard. Now passive houses are most identified with the German housing market. I believe they're mandatory in Austria. I met some of the tenants in Exeter who were raving with happiness about the state of their passive houses because triple-glazed windows meant there was zero condensation they didn't actually require any artificial heating the mechanical ventilation meant that there was a constant clean airflow the tenants were healthier they were happier the homes were quieter and they were almost zero cost to heat. I think passive houses is something that's gaining much more attention in the New Zealand housing market and it's a good example of how the State can not only use its power—and I know it's happening with the procurement and this legislation is going to advance that even further—but also in Exeter was stimulating private developers because they wanted to make sure they could match that great standard. While I was there I also met with the former Welsh Minister that instituted the One Planet Development scheme. Now there with tight planning and urban - rural boundary rules they instituted this law change called the Well-being of Future Generations Act which actually meant with the One Planet Development that if people were self-building were using sustainable materials were able to track and demonstrate how they were reducing their carbon as well as having a business on the property—so of course there was lots of horticulture lots of agricultural enterprises—they were actually able to develop the properties which was quite hard in rural Wales. For me it was a good example of how we're going to need more innovative solutions. National for too long sat on their hands. Now what we need is leadership which we're seeing in this legislation. What we need is innovation which is what you're seeing with this Government's actions. What we need is more sustainable energy efficiency and that's what we're seeing with this Government. So the Green Party is incredibly proud to be supporting this legislation. It's a great step forward a foundation on which to build on and while there's going to be a lot of legislation and action to come in the future this is just the start. Kia ora koutou.