Te Pāti Māori Co-leader Rawiri Waititi is announcing that Te Pāti Māori will oppose the Residential Tenancies (Healthy Homes Standards) Amendment Bill that the Government is passing through all stages under urgency this week.

“This is a terrible bill. It is being passed only to let landlords off the hook by giving them an extra year to comply with the healthy homes standards. Te Pāti Māori will not stand for it” said Mr Waititi.

“These changes speak to the double standards that the state applies to those with power and wealth who don’t comply with law, and those without, as our people know too well. These double standards are racist, classist, and born out of a colonial mindset.

“For tangata whenua, landlords complying with these healthy homes standards couldn’t be more important; more than 50 percent of Māori are renters, 30,000 tamariki are hospitalised each year from unhealthy homes and 33 percent of all Māori will shift residence every three years.

“The justifications given for this extra year-long delay are a total cop out. Another year means 30,000 more sick tamariki.

“Cold, damp, and rundown houses are literally killing our people. Māori are often having to deal with supposedly third world conditions like rheumatic fever due to the disgusting state of the rental market in this country.

“We strongly and wholeheartedly oppose this legislation and call on this Government to withdraw it and do what’s right by renters in Aotearoa” said Mr Waititi.

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