Twyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to MinistersText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeTwyford Phil: Oral Questions — Questions to Ministers[Sitting date: 01 April 2015. Volume:704;Page:2791. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]5.PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatū) to the Minister for the Environment: Is he like the Prime Minister relaxed about the effect of dropping major RMA reforms on new housing supply and does he agree with the Prime Minister that there are “mixed views” about how much his reforms would have addressed Auckland’s housing shortage?Hon Dr NICK SMITH (Minister for the Environment): I have checked and the Prime Minister’s comments were specifically in respect of the changes to sections 6 and 7 of which there are mixed views. The Prime Minister equally made the point: “the procedural changes are very important.” For instance the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Act which bypassed the more clumsy procedural parts of the Resource Management Act has freed up land supply for 43000 homes in Auckland. This law expires in September next year and our Resource Management Act reforms need to ensure ongoing land supply and residential development.Phil Twyford: When the Prime Minister said yesterday that there are mixed views about how his Resource Management Act reforms would have addressed the Auckland housing shortage was this because Nick Smith says that the Resource Management Act is to blame for the rising cost of housing and hardly anyone else agrees?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: Every member of this House knows that the Resource Management Act is the primary law that governs the creation of sections. The price of sections in Auckland has gone from $100000 in 2000 to an average of $375000 today. If we are serious about improving house prices we have to focus on section prices and the Resource Management Act is critical to resolving that issue.Phil Twyford: Which quote best describes his Resource Management Act announcement in January: “An attempt to manipulate public sentiment with unsubstantiated claims rhetoric and at times misleading analysis.” that was the Listener; “[jumbled] together anecdote and slogans commonsense and windy abstractions.” that was the Dominion Post; or “A blunderbuss attempt to obliterate the RMA.” that was Radio New Zealand?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: I could cite hundreds of sources that received this Government’s Resource Management Act reforms very positively and I actually even note—Hon Members: Name one!Hon Dr NICK SMITH: —oh name one—that Labour’s environment spokesperson says that Resource Management Act changes are important. So even Labour accepts that if we are serious about addressing housing affordability Resource Management Act reform is an important part of the package.Joanne Hayes: Have any changes been made to the Resource Management Act that have negatively impacted on land supply and housing affordability in Auckland; if so when were those changes made?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: At the heart of the Auckland housing issue is land supply and the rigid boundary imposed by the former Auckland Regional Council’s metropolitan urban limit. That has seen section prices in Auckland go up by 300 percent. District and city councils had to have regard only for the metropolitan limit under the original Resource Management Act but changes made in 2004 meant that regional councils’ plans trumped local council rules. This change turned the metropolitan urban limit into a straitjacket saw section availability drop dramatically and saw undeveloped land prices inside the metropolitan urban limit increase in some cases by a hundredfold.Phil Twyford: Does he agree with John Armstrong in the New Zealand Herald that he was using the Resource Management Act as a smokescreen; if so was he using housing to disguise his weakening of the Resource Management Act’s environmental principles or was he using the Resource Management Act to distract from his failure to fix the housing crisis?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: The Productivity Commission produced a comprehensive report on housing affordability. It said that at the core of what this Parliament must address if it is serious about making housing more affordable is those planning rules within the Resource Management Act. I simply say to the member opposite that sections can be developed only through the Resource Management Act. Section prices are at the core of this issue and if we are serious about addressing that reform of the Resource Management Act is critical.Phil Twyford: Will he release the detail of his housing-related Resource Management Act changes so that parties on this side of the House can assess them given Andrew Little’s commitment that we will look at supporting them if they stack up?Hon Dr NICK SMITH: All in good time. The Government is going to consult with its support parties—the Māori Party the ACT Party and United Future. When we have a bill in good shape we will introduce it to the House and we would welcome the support of members opposite.