Carter John: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
Carter John: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:641;Page:11097] 
JOHN CARTER (National—Northland) 
: 
 I have a couple of questions that I would like to ask my parliamentary colleagues. The first question is who among them thinks that if we pass this legislation it is going to fix up everything it is going to fix all the problems and they are going to disappear. At the moment I cannot hear any members saying that they think that. Not even the Minister for Building and Construction will say that this legislation is going to solve the problems. The next question I have is who in this Parliament thinks that if we pass this legislation there will not be any more leaky homes. Well is that not strange! Not even the Minister is indicating that he thinks this legislation will solve the leaky homes problem. Who thinks that if we pass this legislation we will end up with more leaky homes? A good number of my colleagues are indicating that they think that will be one of the outcomes. Yet the Minister does not even take an interest. 
What this Parliament needs to know and what the country needs to know is that right now in New Zealand more leaky homes are being built than ever before. We already know that in this country 3200 homes are registered as leaky homes. What people do not yet know but what we are being told is that leaky homes are being built in this country every day. The reason is that this Minister has been derelict in his duty to ensure that the materials that go into those homes are up to standard. We know that materials imported from Asia that are going to fail within 7 to 10 years are being put into homes in New Zealand. Copper piping and plastic piping will fail in 7 to 10 years. It will cause leaks the moisture of course will go into the timber which is not treated and as a consequence we will end up with more leaky homes. This Minister knows that. This Minister has been charged with the responsibility of ensuring that it does not happen and he will not even stand up and guarantee to the people of New Zealand that under his regime under the regime that we are dealing with tonight—the two bills that we are splitting the original bill into—there will be security for the people of New Zealand. I say that the Minister should take a call on the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Remedies) Amendment Bill and the Building (Consent Authorities) Amendment Bill which the original bill is being split into and tell the people of New Zealand that he is going to improve things and make them better. But the Minister cannot do that. 
That is the problem with this legislation. When we pass these two bills we are going to end up with a bigger mess than ever. It has been recorded and it needs to be recorded again that in New Zealand now it is estimated that over 250000 homes are not compliant. These 250000 homes which people are living in do not have a compliance certificate. People cannot even sell these homes because they do not have a compliance certificate. These 250000 homes would take up an area the size of Wellington City. Here we are debating legislation tonight that is meant to address that sort of problem and this Minister will not even take a call to defend his own legislation. 
That is the problem. We really are dealing with a run-down Government a Government that knows it is failing. This is just another example of the failure of this Government. Here we are considering legislation tonight that is just going to add to that failure. The challenge is going to be for the next Government—and we will take it on—to fix this. There are ways that it can be fixed; and it will be fixed. We will give certainty and security to the people of New Zealand and to new homeowners. They will not have to worry about a department of 300 people delivering laws and regulations that make the problem worse not better. They will know there are local authorities out there that are competent and can provide the security they want. They will know there is a building industry that is robust and confident and has a future because that is what we will deliver to New Zealand when we get the opportunity to start making decisions instead of having to put up with the incompetence that this Minister is showing tonight. 
One of the things one would expect is that at the very least the Minister would take a call stand up and defend his own legislation. But this Minister has sat in that chair tonight and has not taken a call. He has not bothered to defend the Government against any of the comments that we have made. He has not suggested that anything we are saying is wrong. He has just sat there and carried on. It is a disgrace.