Mitchell Clayton: Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMitchell Clayton: Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3630. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]CLAYTON MITCHELL (NZ First): I rise to take a second call on this terrible piece of legislation. The more I read it—and let us be honest there is not a lot to read to be fair—it makes me feel a little bit sick. I look across the Chamber and I see every single backbencher in the National Party with their head down listening to their iPod not looking like they are interested.This piece of legislation is seriously going to affect New Zealand for a very very long time. I have to say that we have got a proud history of looking after those people who need support the most. What is going on here is shameful and it is going to bite us. Dare I say there is an old saying—actually it is not that old: “We have changed.” The old New Zealand would not do what we have done and what we are going to do right now. To let democracy be pulled out from underneath us to get this piece of legislation rammed through under urgency does not make any sense to me whatsoever. There are a few bills coming up over the next couple of days and this is one of the bills that we need to be standing up about proud to fight against—absolutely.In 1969 my parents bought their first home when interest rates were 22 percent. How could you imagine that you could actually pay for a house at 22 percent? Now interest rates are only 5 percent and we cannot get there. The difference is that back in 1969 the house that they bought was only $14000 and their annual income with my father working was only $12000. I have to say that this has changed in every way. Back then it was affordable for people to be able to get into a home. If you did not have a job that was paying well enough you could get State assistance and actually have a home where you could be brought up you could work and you could have a lifestyle.This privatisation—the corporatisation of the State housing industry is a fugazi. It does not even exist. What we are trying to do is give wealth and control to corporations. We are not actually looking after our people in this country which this country has an obligation to do. This is a sell-off. It is going going gone. We are getting rid of our State-owned assets and we getting rid of our State-owned housing. Goodness me we are probably going to privatise our army—that is the next thing. I am sure we have got some insight into some of the fictional stories that are coming out that say that one day this is going to be the direction of the world. It is going to be globalised and corporatised.This is a step in the wrong direction. This is knee-jerk legislation which we are very very concerned about. One of those concerns is that when you are getting advice as a Minister you want to take good advice from people who know the situation at the grassroots. The people who know what is going on in this country with regard to State housing are the people who are organising that State housing—the corporations that are there to look after people the most. Now all of sudden this legislation says that the Minister no longer has to listen to what they have got to say.Under this legislation the Minister can now take advice from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment. That ministry does not look after State housing. We are concerned that the second dot point of the explanatory note of this piece of legislation the Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill is going to undermine the information that is required to make sound decisions for this Government. We oppose this bill strongly. Thank you.