Speech: Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill - Te Ururoa Flavell

Third Reading; Tuesday 12 July 2011; Te Ururoa Flavell, MP for Waiariki

Tēnā koe, Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. Kia ora tātou katoa i tēnei ahiahi i a tātou e wānanga nei i tēnei o ngā pire Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill. He wā poto noa iho ki a au engari i a au e tū nei, ka hoki ngā māhara ki ngā mate nei kua pā mai ki a au ki roto i a Te Arawa. Ko tērā o ngā pāpā, a Theo Tait, tae rā anō ki te mokopuna a Te Ariki Mōrehu e takoto mai rā ki runga i tōna marae. Kore tae te aukati te āhuatanga ō-mate kua tae mai ki runga i a au o Te Arawa ka mutu, te motu. E kui mā, e tama mā, e koro mā, e hine mā i te pō, moe mai, moe mai rā.

Ka huri atu rā ki tēnei o ngā kaupapa kōrero i tēnei rā. Kai te tautoko te Pāti Māori i tēnei huarahi ki te manaaki, ki te tautoko i te hunga kua rongo nei i te ngau o ngā whare tuturu nei. I te ōrite tō mātou tū mō te Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Bill, arā, mō te mātāmua tonu o tēnei ture i te tau 2006, me ētahi atu o ngā ture mai i taua wā. Kei te tautoko mātou i te whakaaro kia noho te Kāwanatanga hei tuarā ki ngā whare pūtea, kia whakamāmā i te āhuatanga ki runga i aua whare pūtea kia rere pai te moni, te pūtea rānei ki ngā whānau, ki te whakatikatika i ngā whare. He huarahi pai tēnei i tōna tuturutanga ki te whakatau i ngā kerēme hei whakatika i tēnei take, arā, ngā whare tūturu, ngā whare pirau nei.

He pai tonu ēnei āhuatanga katoa engari, i a tātau e kōrero nei mō ngā whare tuturu, ngā whare pirau nei, me whai anō hoki tātou ki te kōrero mō te whānuitanga o tēnei mea o te ora o roto i te whare. Ki a au nei, he hononga tonu i waenganui i te hauora o te āhuatanga o te whare, o te ora o te tangata. Kai reira tērā whanaungatanga i waenganui i ngā mea e toru e kōrerohia ake nei. Ki taku mōhio, kei Counties Manukau, kei te Tonga o Tāmaki, kei Tāmaki tonu, kei Te Tai Tokerau, kei Te Awakairangi ētahi kaupapa i raro i te maru nei o te Healthy Housing, arā, ko te whakakotahitanga o ngā take hauora ki ngā take ā-whare. Nei au e pātai nei, he aha te take kāre i te pērā i roto i tōku ake rohe pōti o Te Waiariki i te mea, kai reira tonu, kai te wā kāinga ngā whare tuturu, ngā whare pirau, ngā whare makariri, ngā whare mākū, ngā whare pūwhāwhā nei. Mēnā ka pērā te āhua, arā noa atu ngā painga ki te hauora o te tangata. Nō reira, ko te tūmanako i a tātou e kōrero nei mō te pire nei, tērā pea ka whai wāhi tātou ki te whakatau i te whakaaro, āe, ka pai te whare, ka ora anō hoki te tangata.

Kai te tautoko te Pāti Māori i te āwhina ā-pūtea mō ngā whare tūturu engari, me titiro anō ki te āwhina ā-pūtea i ngā whānau ki te ārai i te makariri, ki te whakapaipai ake i te hanga o ngā whare, ki te whakanui pea i ngā rūma o te whare kia kore te whānau e noho kōpā, kia taea ai e rātou te whakatikatika ngā pirau me ērā atu momo raruraru o ngā whare. Me pēnei tātou ka tika. Ki te āta titiro tātou ki te māuiui ā-rūmātiki nei, ka mōhio mai tātou, arā nō tōna hononga ki te āhuatanga o ngā whare. Kua kaha ngau mai taua māuiui ki a ngāi Māori me ngā whanaunga o Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa. Ka pā mamae tērā mate, tērā māuiui ki te tangata nā te kino o ngā whare, nā te kōpā o te noho o ngā whānau, nō reira, arā noa atu ngā painga ka puta i tēnei kaupapa o te Healthy Housing project. E kī ana te kōrero “He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata”. Mēnā e pono ana tērā āhuatanga ki a tātou me whai atu i tēnei huarahi ki tōna mutunga mai. Koinei au e whakaara ake nei i tēnei o ngā whakaaro.

Nā, kia hoki mai ki te pire nei me ōna toronga. Kei te tautoko te Pāti Māori i te Housing Innovation Fund, kai te tautoko anō hoki i te Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation programme, hei mea whakamahana i te motu. Arā nō ōna painga. Nō reira, mēnā ka pērā, kai te tautoko mātou i tēnei pire i tōna mutunga mai. Ā, kia ora tātou.

Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker Robertson. Greetings to us all this afternoon as we debate this bill, the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services (Financial Assistance Package) Amendment Bill. I have only a brief call, but as I stand here my thoughts go to specific deaths affecting me in the Te Arawa region: those of the fatherly figure Theo Tait and of Te Ariki Mōrehu’s grandchild, who is lying in state on his marae. Circumstances relating to the deaths can never be avoided for me, Te Arawa, and, indeed, the nation. Oh elderly womenfolk, young sons, elderly menfolk, young daughters in the void, rest there, rest there.

I turn now to address this bill today. The Māori Party supports this way of taking care of and embracing the people affected by these leaky homes. Our stance on this one is similar to that on its predecessor, the Weathertight Homes Resolution Services Bill passed into law in 2006, and on other legislation since then. We support the proposal that the Government act as a guarantor to financial institutions to ease the pressure on these money institutions, so that money becomes accessible to families to repair houses. In its simplest form this is a good way to resolve the claims that will fix this issue relating to these leaky and decayed homes.

All these situations are well and good, but while we are talking about these leaky and decayed homes we should be talking broadly about healthy housing. To me, there is a connection between the healthy state of the house and the person’s health. There is an association between the three things being discussed here. I understand there are Healthy Housing projects operating in Counties Manukau, South Auckland, Auckland itself, Northland, and the Hutt Valley under the mantle of Healthy Housing, in regard to an association between health and housing matters. Here I am asking why those projects are not operating in my electorate of Waiariki, because the situation exists back home there as well. There are leaky homes, decayed homes, cold homes, damp homes, and dilapidated ones present. If that is the case, there is much benefit to be gained in terms of a person’s health. HHopefully, as we talk about this bill, we will find time to consider the thought that yes, if the house is fine, the person is healthy as well.

The Māori Party supports a financial assistance package for leaky homes, but we must find a similar package for families to block out the cold, to make improvements to houses, to increase the size of living spaces so the family is not cramped, and to carry out repairs to decayed areas and other basic problems of houses. We have to do this; that is for sure. If we examine the disease of rheumatic fever, we will then understand its connection to housing conditions. That illness has impacted greatly on Māori people and their Pacific Island relatives. It is linked to poorer housing conditions and overcrowding. There are enormous benefits in the Healthy Housing project. The aphorism states “What is the greatest thing in the world? It is mankind, it is mankind”. That is why I bring it up here.

In coming back to this bill and its connections, I say the Māori Party supports the Housing Innovation Fund and the Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation programme as a means of giving warmth to the nation. It has many benefits. In order that this legislation is implemented, we will support this bill right to its conclusion. Greetings to us.