Commonsense Must Prevail

Monday 17 Nov 2003 Deborah Coddington Press Releases -- Economy

ACT New Zealand Economic Development Spokesman Deborah Coddington today described proposed changes to the Building Bill - that would restrict the rights of home-owners to work on their houses without supervision - as yet another nail in the coffin of commonsense.

"New Zealanders spent $1.1 billion on alterations and additions to their homes, and more than $4 billion on renovations, in 2002 - DIY is an essential part of the Kiwi culture. But bureaucratic busybodies couldn't leave well enough alone," Miss Coddington said.

"Officials from the Economic Development Ministry have stepped in and suggested setting a limit on the value of some types of work - likely to be $10,000 - that could be done without supervision.

"Enforcing a dollar limit would be a nightmare. Home-owners would be forced to do their renovations in secret, in a bid to avoid the heavy hand of the nanny state - and I doubt Labour has even considered the problems associated with the shortage of qualified building inspectors who will be expected to supervise DIY work.

"This is just another example of the Labour Government attempting to interfere in peoples' lives. It's high time we put an end to this outrageous nonsense. New Zealanders are crying out for less red tape, not more of it - commonsense must prevail," Miss Coddington said.

ENDS

For more information visit ACT online at http://www.act.org.nz or contact the ACT Parliamentary Office at act@parliament.govt.nz.

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