Lees-Galloway IainIAIN LEES-GALLOWAY (Labour—Palmerston North): This bill and the 17-hour-long marathon debate that we have had around it are emblematic of the state of this Government: it is in a total shambles. Back in 2008 there was no way that the National Government members would have allowed the mess that this bill has become for them to occur. They are completely out of control. It is not just Nick Smith who is out of control it is the whole National Government—utterly shambolic. They are also completely out of touch because they think they are doing a good job on housing. They have absolutely convinced themselves that they are doing a good job. They think that having 42000 people homeless in New Zealand is doing a good job. They think that having an average house price in Auckland of $1 million is doing a good job. They are completely out of touch with reality. Of course what we have known all along and what this bill has simply underlined is that the National Government is utterly incapable of dealing with homelessness and housing affordability.The Government members do not have an answer to it because they know what has to be done—they know what has to be done. They know that we are not going to solve this issue without a massive effort from the Government but it is simply not in the National Government's DNA to do that. They know it is the right thing to do but they are religiously ideologically stuck to the doctrine of free markets and they cannot bring themselves to do what is necessary. The Labour Party and the Green Party and New Zealand First all brought amendments that would make real differences to housing affordability. We brought an amendment to say: Let us introduce our KiwiBuild programme. Let us build 10000 affordable homes a year." Then we said: "Let us extend the brightline test. Let us discourage speculation in the housing market by actually taxing the capital gains that people make on speculation." Then we said: "Let us tighten up foreign investment." Then we said: "Let us have a national policy statement on urban development." Then the Greens said: "Let us stop taking a profit from Housing New Zealand and invest that money back into building more social housing." Then we said: "Let us make sure that we do not have any fewer than 8000 places for emergency housing." On every single one of those proposals the National Government members said no—no to building affordable houses no to taxing capital gains no to tightening up foreign investment no to a national policy statement no to stopping the profit taking from Housing New Zealand and no to making sure that we have adequate emergency housing—because it is just not in their DNA. The Government members are simply not capable of doing it because their mates are doing very nicely out of the current situation and they are beholden to those people—the handful of people at the top the ones who are doing well the ones who are getting the wage increases the ones who are benefiting from capital gains the speculators and the foreign investors. That is who supports the National Government and that is whom the National Government works for.That is why it has failed to do one thing in this piece of legislation that will actually address the issues of housing affordability. That is why in New Zealand right now we have the lowest rate of homeownership since the 1950s. That is the reality. This Government is so out of touch that it refuses to acknowledge it but that is the reality for people. They cannot afford to buy their first home. Some people cannot even afford to rent a home so they are living in cars they are living in garages or they squeeze their whole family into somebody else's living room. But the National Government does not want to know that because it does not fit its ideology to do something about it. It does not fit its doctrine to do something about it because it is absolutely straight-jacketed by its adherence to free markets.There is a difference between this side of the House and that side of the House. There is a difference between Labour the Greens and—sometimes with us—New Zealand First and the National Government. New Zealanders need to know that difference. I thank the National Government members for giving us this opportunity to demonstrate the clear difference between them and us. I say to New Zealand: if you want a solution to homelessness then it is quite simple—change the Government."