Heatley Phil: Standing Orders—Suspension 
Heatley Phil: Standing Orders—Suspension 
[Volume:641;Page:10943] 
PHIL HEATLEY (National—Whangarei) 
: 
 This is the thing: usually when legislation is tabled in this Parliament we have a very robust debate in this House. Parties have the right to have their say and share their views within this Chamber and that is broadcast across this nation. People who take a tremendous interest in the topic at hand write in to their local MPs because they have heard it discussed through the media because of the robust debate in this House. These people contact their local member of Parliament—for example Nathan Guy in Otaki Jacqui Dean in Otago or myself in Whangarei. We give them the attention they deserve and bring their ideas back to Parliament. 
This all occurs because there is a first reading debate on the legislation. We then go to a select committee process where we hear from those same people. In this case we would hear from the building industry local district councils and all those ratepayers and taxpayers who are affected by housing—and that is every last one of them because every last New Zealander lives under a roof in New Zealand; although I would have to say with a growing underclass that is fast becoming not the case. Taxpayers the building industry and district councils would sit down at select committee and discuss the legislation. That is the second stage—there is a first reading then a select committee process. 
The legislation would then come back to this House for a second reading—another robust debate. It would then go though the Committee stage—a fourth stage—where we would debate clause by clause everything that is happening in the legislation and again I say that it affects every New Zealander in this country. Then we would have a third reading debate and if the law stood up to the scrutiny of the taxpayer the ratepayer and all members of Parliament that legislation would be passed. That is good process that has stood the test of time. 
The Minister is now asking this Parliament to ride roughshod over that five-stage consultative process. He is asking us to pass his legislation when no light has been shed on it at all from a public perspective and to pass it in this House over the course of a few days. There has been no select committee process. The public are unaware of it happening and that is bad law. 
How do we know it is bad law? The reason we know it is bad law is that this is not the first time this Minister has introduced building legislation to this House that needed to be corrected. This is not the second time that this Minister has brought building legislation to this House that needed to be corrected. This is not the third time that this Minister has brought legislation to the House that needed to be corrected. This is the fourth time. But what the Minister wants to do today is to run roughshod over the normal processes of Parliament where legislation receives plenty of scrutiny. He wants to ride roughshod over that and fast track this legislation. Why? It is because he does not want it to have the scrutiny of a select committee. He does not want district councils from all over the country coming to him and saying to him once again: “We do not need this legislation where we are regulated by central government. We do not need this legislation that means we have to be accredited to give building consents.” 
Why do district councils not need that? It is because district councils have been issuing building consents for decades. District councils have been issuing building consents for perhaps 50 years perhaps 100 years and they do not need accreditation because they have been doing it for so long—longer than the self-appointed Minister. But no he has decided that central government bureaucrats need to accredit district councils across this country to do something that they have been doing for 50 years—maybe 100 years. Jacqui Dean from Otago says that it is donkey’s years and is not that the truth. 
I agree with Nick Smith when he asks: “Where are the third parties in this Parliament the Green Party and the New Zealand First Party?”. Where are their good friends Taito Phillip Field and Gordon Copeland? Where is their good buddy and old pal the MP for the Christchurch electorate of Wigram? Where is Jim Anderton when they are keeping this Government accountable? I cannot see them. I cannot comment on whether they are in the debating Chamber and in this House. I do not have my glasses on and I cannot see them. This Government is held up by six parties and the public should know that. This Government is a ragtag group of parliamentarians held together by six parties. Jim Anderton holds this Parliament together. Jim Anderton holds Labour together. Taito Phillip Field holds this Labour Government together. Gordon Copeland holds this Parliament together. When New Zealand First members have taken their No-Doz and they are awake in this Parliament and when Winston Peters is not overseas supping wine with his mates over there they are holding up this Labour Party in this Parliament. Of course the Green Party is also holding up the Labour Party in this Parliament. Such a ragtag group of six parties including Taito Phillip Field Gordon Copeland the Green Party New Zealand First when its members are awake Jim Anderton when he is not back in Wigram and the Labour Party is now ramming legislation through this Parliament without any scrutiny at all and National finds that absolutely appalling. 
We cannot believe that Clayton Cosgrove is so ashamed of what he has put on the legislative agenda that he will not let the bill go through a first reading a referral to a select committee a second reading a Committee stage and a third reading in this House. He is so ashamed of the job that he is doing as Minister for Building and Construction that he will not let the public have a say on this legislation. We are surprised at that. We thought that Clayton Cosgrove had a bit of courage. He is not bright but we thought he had a bit of courage. But no. He will force this bill through the Parliament today by suspending the Standing Orders. He will avoid the scrutiny of the public and of the Parliament. He will gather all his ragtag friends—Taito Phillip Field Gordon Copeland New Zealand First whose members I do note have had No-Doz and are awake and the Green Party—and he will force this motion through the Parliament. 
Keith Locke 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. I am sorry to interrupt the member who is speaking but he has mentioned Gordon Copeland three times and I think there may have been a change that the House should be notified of. I understood that the proxy for Gordon Copeland was held by National. I assume from the member’s comments that that has now changed. I think we should be informed of that. 
Mr DEPUTY SPEAKER 
: That certainly concerned procedural matters but only in that sense was it a point of order. 
PHIL HEATLEY 
: The member should be aware that Gordon Copeland is supporting this Government on confidence and supply. I know that the member has no confidence from his party. I want him to know that this Labour Government is a ragtag group of individuals. We do not support the idea of running roughshod over New Zealand’s democracy. We will not be supporting this motion at all. We believe that legislation should have the full scrutiny of the public and Parliament. 
We are disappointed that this Minister in particular would rush it through because quite simply his track record of getting legislation right is not good. Nick Smith mentioned the number of times the member has tried to address the leaky homes crisis and failed—three times. Three strikes and one is out normally. We have no confidence in the Minister getting it right this time. We know that local councils are quite capable of issuing building consents. They have been doing it for decades. Why the Minister needs to accredit them is beyond us. It is not the councils that have been getting it wrong all this time. Perhaps we could ask that the Minister withdraw his motion. The National Party will certainly support him if he does put his tail between his legs and backs down on this strategy to avoid public scrutiny.