4. Housing Rental—Methamphetamine Contamination Standard ChangesANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua) to the Minister for Building and ConstructionHousing Rental—Methamphetamine Contamination Standard Changes4. ANDREW BAYLY (National—Hunua) to the Minister for Building and Construction: What progress has the Government made in improving the tenancy laws and guidance for dealing with the problem of methamphetamine testing and contamination?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Construction): Today's new standard for meth testing and decontamination is a huge step forward for homeowners and tenants dealing with this problem. It sets clear standards for sampling and testing and competency requirements for both samplers and decontamination contractors. It complements the legislative proposals introduced last month in the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill (No 2) which gives landlords the right to test and enables tenancy agreements to be terminated when levels are unsafe. The intention is to reference the standards and regulations to provide a comprehensive solution to this problem. I want to acknowledge both the member and Alastair Scott for their advocacy in this area and the work they did on a member's bill to similarly address this problem.Andrew Bayly: How do the new standards compare with the old guidelines and what impact will this have on housing supply and the cost of decontamination?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The standards committee looking in depth at the science and the health risk has concluded that the 0.5 microgram per 100 square centimetres limit was excessively cautious. The old guidelines were based on the risks associated with clandestine laboratories rather than use. The new 1.5 micrograms per 100 square centimetres standard will mean hundreds fewer homes will have to be vacated and will save millions in unnecessary decontamination work. There is no single magic answer to the pressures in the housing market but this is just one of dozens of sensible regulatory changes that the Government is making to improve how housing is regulated.Andrew Bayly: How was the new standard for dealing with methamphetamine contamination funded?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: This new standard was funded from the Criminal Proceeds (Recovery) Act which this Government passed in 2009. This early reform by this Government opposed by parties opposite required that offenders contribute to addressing the problems that are caused by their crime. Property owners of meth-contaminated homes are often innocent and further victims of drug crime. It is entirely appropriate that this new standard has been funded from criminal proceeds.Phil Twyford: Now that the Minister has acknowledged that the old methamphetamine contamination standard was in his words excessively cautious" and is about to be replaced with a new standard what is the Government going to do about the $30 million that Housing New Zealand has wasted based on the faulty methamphetamine standard the hundreds of families that were evicted from their homes and the hundreds of State houses that have been left vacant around the country for years in the middle of a housing crisis—Mr SPEAKER: Order! Bring the question to a conclusion please.Phil Twyford: —because of this Governments incompetence?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Such decisions on an issue like chemical contamination need to be based on the best science of the time. I would remind the member that Labour members of Parliament 5 years ago were asking what the Government was doing to get people out of P-contaminated houses. The Government set up the standards process 18 months ago. We have now found a good quality standard that ends up—and the difficulty for the Labour Party members is that they spend half the time arguing that we were not doing enough to get people out of P-contaminated houses and then argue when we put a new standard in place."