Faafoi Kris: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — In CommitteeText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeFaafoi Kris: Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill — In Committee[Sitting date: 24 May 2016. Volume:714;Page:11140. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]KRIS FAAFOI (Labour—Mana): Thank you very much. You did have a choice so thank you very much Mr Chair. I do want to take the opportunity to respond to a number of the submissions made across the Chamber to clause 38 around insulation. The last speaker to make a contribution Maureen Pugh said that the Residential Tenancies Amendment Bill was “practical”. Unfortunately for that speaker that is not what the Children’s Commissioner thinks. He said in his submission to the Social Services Committee rather bluntly that in his view “this Bill will not achieve improvements in the quality of rental housing and will not reduce the numbers of children becoming ill from living in cold and damp housing.”I think the Children’s Commissioner might know a thing or two about keeping children safe and healthy. Although this Government may think that the bill is practical the Children’s Commissioner disagrees with the Government saying that it will not make any difference to reduce the numbers of children becoming ill from living in cold and damp housing—something that I think the people of New Zealand should take into consideration when they think about being practical and keeping children safe and healthy in cold and damp houses.Also in relation to clause 38 another one of the Government’s speakers said that based on evidence having a heater in an insulated home will make no difference at all—again something that the Children’s Commissioner at the select committee disagreed with. He said: “… I would have expected to see the following elements included in the Bill: 1. A heating standard for all properties not just those in which insulation cannot be practically installed. The health benefits of insulation come from the combination of insulation and efficient space heating producing a warm dry living environment. It is well known that children especially very young children suffer significant adverse health impacts from living in unheated environments;”. I think again that the Children’s Commissioner might know a thing or two about the effect that heating may have on the health of children.Also if we are going to look at evidence research by the University of Otago showed that insulating to the 2008 standard would reduce child hospital admissions by 6 percent around 3000 children each year. In rental properties this reduction would be about 19 percent. So in terms of evidence and practicality it seems the evidence is on the side of the Children’s Commissioner and the practicality is only on the side of the Government which is doing nothing in this piece of legislation to improve the lives of children living in damp and cold homes.If Government members are going to stand up in this Parliament and say that based on evidence a heater will not make any difference to the lives of children and families living in insulated homes I have got a challenge for them: take the heaters out of your houses and see how winter goes for you. See how winter goes for you because that is the reality for many of the people families and children whose lives we are trying to make better here. So if we are going to look at being evidence based go and live in your insulated—I am assuming—houses without a heater for winter and see how winter goes for you.