Smith Nick: Estimates Debate — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeSmith Nick: Estimates Debate — In Committee[Sitting date: 11 August 2015. Volume:707;Page:5639. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for Building and Housing): I firstly want to acknowledge Marama Fox and the work that the Māori Party has done with this Government that has enabled us to deliver things like a $25 increase in benefit payments—the first in more than 30 years. I want to acknowledge its work that has enabled us to provide for free doctors visits for those under the age of 13.An area I want to particularly acknowledge the Māori Party on in which we are also making progress is improving the quality of housing. Let me talk about this area because we have provided in this Government’s term for the insulation of 290000 homes through the Warm Up New Zealand: Healthy Homes initiative. We have also insulated 30000 State houses and we have also set down a programme just announced with tenancy changes for 180000 other homes to be insulated. That is 500000 homes—1.2 million people living in warmer drier homes. I challenge the Labour members who are interjecting: how many did Labour do in its 9 years?Hon David Cunliffe: Resign.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: We did 500000—Mr Cunliffe—The CHAIRPERSON (Lindsay Tisch): Sorry. Order! The continual barraging across the Chamber is unacceptable. Tone it down. I actually want to hear what the Minister is saying and I am sitting right beside him.Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I am happy to compare the record: 500000 homes are warmer and drier under our Government. Under the 9 years of Labour it insulated not 500000 but 15000 and Labour members have the gall to stand up in the Chamber and to pretend that they are the only ones who care.I want to talk about HomeStart because this Government is providing the most generous support for first home owners in more than a generation. Some of the older grey hairs may remember the State Advances Corporation loans. They may remember the capitalising family benefit. What we are doing in this Budget is putting $430 million into helping young New Zealand families get over that hurdle and be able to buy their first home. There is only one problem that we have had in the last 3 months and that has been dealing with the tsunami of applications of new first home owners from Invercargill to Kaitāia who are picking up on that scheme and getting themselves into a home.I want to challenge Phil Twyford because never have I faced such a duplicitous Opposition spokesperson who is all over the paddock. He challenges us to put loan-to-value ratios in place and when they are put in place he opposes them. He is a spokesperson who when interest rates go up complains and says it is bad and when interest rates go down complains and says that it is bad. When I first became Minister for Housing he demanded that I not interfere in the Auckland Council. He organised for my hoarding to be put up all over Auckland and then he has got the gall to say: “Oh but the Minister’s not doing enough in Auckland.” Well let me give the numbers. Every year that I have been Minister since 2013 the number of new houses being built in Auckland has grown by 20 percent. There has never been a period in the last 3 years or in any time in Auckland’s history when there has been as fast a pick up in the rate of house building.But here is the really embarrassing bit: never have I seen a spokesperson tear up the heritage of a party that I thought stood for inclusion as he did with his cynical attack on those with Chinese-sounding names. You only need to see the reaction of spokespeople in the Labour Party who now cringe every time Phil Twyford gets to his feet because in one of the most clumsy manoeuvres we have seen in this Chamber this year Phil Twyford has burnt up 50 years of hard work where people thought the Labour Party stood for racial equality and stood for inclusion. Now we know that the Labour Party is out to cynically target one ethnic group with this housing challenge.