Reti Shane: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeReti Shane: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 01 June 2016. Volume:714;Page:11551. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]4.Dr SHANE RETI (National—Whangarei) to the Minister for Building and Housing: What reports has he received on the building boom spreading beyond Auckland and Christchurch?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): Yesterday’s building consent figures show total annual consents nationally topped 28000 an all-time record of $17.6 billion of building work. Growth in Auckland remains strong with now 4 years of 20 percent growth which is why we now have a house-build rate of 40 new homes each working day. The surprise in yesterday’s data was that two-thirds of the national growth was outside Auckland and Christchurch. Centres like Hamilton and Tauranga are now experiencing growth of 26 percent in the rate of housebuilding.Dr Shane Reti: What increases in building activity were there in Northland?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Northland had one of the strongest growth rates with increases in annual consents of 53 percent in Whangarei for the year 54 percent in the far north and 31 percent in Kaipara. Across Northland consents were up from 660 to nearly 1000 showing how successfully this Government’s policies are working for the community of Northland.Mr SPEAKER: Supplementary question Todd Barclay. [Interruption] Order! [Interruption] Order!Rt Hon Winston Peters: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. The primaryquestions were from the Government and now you have taken the next one when I was on my feet at the same time—Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order! The member needs to understand the Standing Orders. It is the Speaker’s discretion as to where he takes the call. I have taken it from Todd Barclay.Todd Barclay: Is the building growth confined to regions in close proximity to Auckland?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: No the growth was strong all over the country. Manawatū was up 66 percent Palmerston North was up 57 percent Wanganui was up 60 percent and Rotorua was up 96 percent. I note that in Queenstown Lakes District in the member’s own electorate the number was up 40 percent. In my own area of Tasman it was up 35 percent. I acknowledge the unique housing issues in Queenstown and I would particularly commend that member for his initiative around the old Wakatipu High School site which the Government is exploring as a place where it can further grow housing supply.Rt Hon Winston Peters: In the whole history of humanity in this country or in the whole wide world has the Minister ever seen someone living in a consent?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: What I know is that Governments have always used building consent data as the best measure of the way in which housebuilding occurs and that it matches within 1 percent the census data on new homes that are constructed.Phil Twyford: Does he believe that regional centres like Queenstown and Tauranga both now rated as severely unaffordable and with high levels of homelessness are victims of their own success or is this what passes for regional development under his Government?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: It is true that the regions of New Zealand are strongly growing and that is a good thing. The irony is that 3 years ago when I announced housing accords with both the Tauranga and the Queenstown councils this was the member who said I was wasting my time and should be focused only on Auckland. [Interruption]Mr SPEAKER: Order! [Interruption] Order!Simon O’Connor: Are there any risks to the strong building boom in Auckland continuing?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The historical root cause of Auckland’s housing woes has been that the old regional council was very opposed to urban sprawl and did not want greenfield growth while the territorial councils were very opposed to infill housing. As a consequence Auckland was not able to grow anywhere. The irony is that although National and Labour now agree that metropolitan urban limits are at the core of the problem the new-found love-fest between Labour and the Greens exposes opposite policies on the metropolitan urban limit.