Tamihere welcomes challenge of new department

“Homes aren’t just another product that people purchase. Owning your own home is something most kiwis aspire to and for most of us the family home is the most significant purchase we ever make,” says John Tamihere.

“As a government we must make sure that when buying houses kiwis can have confidence that the building standards are rigorous – and that if any problems arise there’s somewhere for them to go to seek redress.”

“However, we need to ensure that in setting rigorous standards we don’t impose compliance costs that make it impossible for the construction industry to get on with the job of building high quality, affordable homes for kiwi families. As Minister for Small Business, I am also all too aware of the costs of ill-conceived regulations.”

“Re-building public confidence in home building is not just a challenge for the government – but also for the industry and I look forward to working closely with the industry to make sure this happens.” John Tamihere said.

The change also acknowledges that government departments need to be focussed on what works for the public, not just the Wellington bureaucracy. This is another example of strengthening the public services we deliver to New Zealanders by bringing together a range of different government agencies into a one-stop-shop designed to deliver to consumers and the industry.

Mr Tamihere will take over responsibility for the new department once it has been established. Until then he will hold the responsibilities as Associate Commerce Minister.

What will the new Department do? As a one-stop-shop for building and housing matters the department’s functions will include:

Setting standards for establishing compliance with the building code Making determinations relating to building control Reviewing territorial authorities and building certifiers Approving building certifiers Accrediting building products and processes Providing information and advice on building controls Running the mediation services for resolving leaky-homes disputes Providing information, advice and dispute resolution services to landlords and tenants Administering tenancy bonds Monitoring Housing New Zealand Monitoring and regulating retirement villages.

For more information see http://www.ssc.govt.nz/statement-on-dept-building-and-housing.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>