Davidson Marama: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeDavidson Marama: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 08 December 2015. Volume:710;Page:8636. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MARAMA DAVIDSON (Green): Kia ora tēnā koe Mr Assistant Speaker. I rise to take a call on the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill 2015 in this first reading. The Green Party will be supporting this bill through the first reading especially because I am really keen to hear from submitters and for them to come and tell their stories. As the member Carmel Sepuloni has already outlined the stories are actually quite grim and the absolute reason why this bill does not go far enough—and in contrast to what the previous member Todd Muller said when he said that the Government has prioritised warm dry and safe homes that is not at all what this bill does. This bill seeks to get away with the minimum standards as my colleague Metiria Turei has also already highlighted. I would like to raise again the point that $420 million could be saved with a comprehensive warrant of fitness; that alone would be a smart economic decision would be a smart moral decision and would be a smart governance decision.I would like to take a little bit of time as fearful as I am to talk about the rental that I am living in at the moment. I have been quite public about my own rental story and I always have to say for safety that I love my house and I would like to stay in it. However searching for this house for my family and me to live in at the beginning of this year brought me absolutely face to face with the issues that we are facing when it comes to renters’ rights and the very reasons why this bill does not go nearly far enough to sort this issue out. I ask: where is our Government’s aspiration for our country to put our children first to put our families first and to put our community strength first as opposed to shoving something up that will mainly keep landlords happy while looking the part and while trying to appease renters that our country is not in a housing chaos?I mentioned in my maiden speech that I looked at I think 30-something houses applied for 20-something houses and finally got the house where no one else was lining up. As the ACT member has already pointed out our supply for renters and our regulations that are missing from the housing market are another area where this Government has failed to look after renters. Also I stand here as the spokesperson for our Māori affairs portfolio. I think it is very relevant that Māori particularly have high rates of renting. This bill may improve some of the situation for Māori renters but will likely not make a difference for far too many of the homes.I am thinking right now of a family that I visited in Clendon in Manurewa South Auckland earlier this year. They are absolutely one of the hard-working families that the National Party likes to say that it is sticking up for. But the Government is certainly not sticking up for this family who are faced with being unable to have any success on the private market. They are currently in an income-related rental but they are absolutely shut out of the private market. They are hard-working New Zealanders for whom this bill does not go nearly far enough.Again I enforce that the Government could have adopted Metiria’s member’s bill which would have made a real difference and ensured proper standards for all rental properties. I agree with the ACT member who mentioned that we have solutions around the world that we could be looking to: not the 1978 standard contained in this bill but a proper standard of rentals for the 21st century that will keep our babies and our whānau healthy and safe. Thank you.