Paraone Pita: Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeParaone Pita: Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 21 May 2015. Volume:705;Page:3649. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]PITA PARAONE (NZ First): Tēnā koe Mr Chair. Tēnā nō tātou. I stand to talk to Part 2 of the Social Housing Reform (Flexible Purchasing and Remedial Matters) Bill. Can I say from the outset and we all know this—those of us in this Committee—that the obligation of any Government is to protect the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens. I do not believe that this bill this Part 2 actually holds true in this case. Having said that and I say it with a certain weight on my heart when I consider the former leaders of that once-respected party—and I refer to Holland Holyoake Marshall and Muldoon—I am sure that all of them would be turning in their graves to see this bill come before this Committee promoted by a National-led Government.This part of the bill particularly clause 20 highlights and verifies what most of us on this side of the Committee believe: that this is the dismantling of our Public Service and in this particular case Housing New Zealand Corporation. This bill is not the beginning; it has already started.Chris Bishop: Do some research.PITA PARAONE: The member may say that it refers only to research but what I am saying is that this is the seed for further things to come.Reference was made by an earlier speaker that much of the work being done by constituent MPs is in addressing the accommodation and housing needs of the people in those electorates. Can I say that it is not only constituent MPs who have to deal with that but it is also list members like myself. This should not come as any surprise because the constituent member in the particular electorate that I am responsible for happens to be a member of the National-led Government. So one needs to ask: who is going to undertake that research; who is going to do the monitoring; and what skills and experience will they have in order to ensure that the Minister does in fact receive the quality advice that he or she certainly deserves and certainly will need to ensure that this Government and we in this House fulfil our obligation to meet the housing needs of our fellow citizens?I have heard reference to this bill as being one of flexibility and innovation. I do not think that there is anything new or innovative about removing the responsibilities for research and monitoring to another agency. I think the danger that we will see in all of this is that the long-term experience that the present agency has will be lost. I know that the Māori Party members have been very supportive of this bill. It behoves me to say that by giving their support to this bill they are doing the people whom they represent a disservice particularly in the regions that I come from. I do not believe that regions such as Whangarei will certainly be better serviced by this proposal and in particular by clause 20 of this bill. So I would ask that both the Māori Party and the National-led Government reconsider this. The fact that they are pushing this bill through by way of urgency suggests to me that they have already made up their minds and that they are not going to listen to any considered arguments.