Dear John --
Congratulations are due to the Nauhria family who hosted a grand opening of their precast concrete factory, Nauhria Precast, in Papakura at the end of September. The factory and the separate office complex showcase the incredible range of beautiful finishes that can be achieved when building in concrete and using innovative technologies and processes.
The Nauhrias invited the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and me and others to join with them to open and celebrate the completion of this project which will provide 300 jobs in Papakura. It has great potential to speed up the efficient production of housing and the building of other facilities public and private across Auckland.
Energetic businessmen and founders, father and son Roshan Nauhria and Tony Nauhria are planning more production units like this in Matamata and Cromwell which is wonderful news for our country.
Building a better future
Building infrastructure of all sorts from roads to alternative power generation installations and commercial developments are being benefitted by the legislation that the Coalition Government is putting in place to reduce compliance costs and delays.
Specifically, for homeowners are the new rules that will make it easier to make small changes to building plans like substituting one building material for another or changing a room layout.
The Government has made changes to regulations under the Building Act to clarify the definition of a ‘minor variation’ and introduce definitions for ‘minor customisation’ . This will provide greater flexibility for architects, tradies and homeowners to make small changes without the need for a lengthy process to get a plan amendment.
- Read guidance for these changes on the MBIE website <[link removed]>
- Watch the new case study for MultiProof in use at EasyBuild <[link removed]> and in use atPurePods <[link removed]>
Building (Minor Variations) Amendment Regulations 2024 <[link removed]>
Kāinga Ora turning around mismanagement of unruly tenants
As a result of Housing Minister Chris Bishop and Associate Minister Tama Potaka ending the Sustaining Tenancies Framework in March this year, Kāinga Ora staff have been empowered to terminate 14 tenancies in the last three months. The previous policy had no consequences for disruptive behaviour including abuse or damage or persistent rent arrears.
These 14 applications made by Kainga Ora were heard by the Tenancy Tribunal who have a further 25 applications to end tenancies for the same reasons, before them now.
Kainga Ora have also issued 80 formal warning notices to tenants for disruptive behaviour in the last three months, compared to 13 for the same period last year.
Although the numbers have dropped, there are still 24,000 whānau on the social housing waitlist and more than 2,000 living in emergency hotels, so people who abuse the privilege of living in social housing are no longer tolerated.
Kainga Ora has a new management board that is being asked to focus on Kainga Ora’s financial stability, aiming to reduce losses, improve long term management, and deliver better value for taxpayers.
As it has 70,000 homes, 185,000 tenants and is a $45 billion agency, it is essential that the organisation functions well and manages its funds intelligently and responsibly.
The sinking of the HMNZS Manawanui
The grounding and sinking of the Manawanui is a very unfortunate and costly accident which happened during a fierce storm near a shallow reef off Upolu, Samoa last weekend.
My first reaction, after receiving word that no-one was missing or severely harmed, was to confirm that a Court of Inquiry has been established to determine what went wrong.
In the meantime, New Zealand’s resources were applied to minimise the environmental problem that oil and fuel leaking from the stricken ship might cause to the area affected by the accident.
I am very grateful that the Manawanui’s commanding officer Yvonne Gray made the right decision to abandon the ship and that the successful evacuation of 75 personnel by lifeboat resulted in only two people with injuries requiring hospital treatment as well as some cuts and abrasions needing first aid, for others.
It would have been a terrifying experience, but luckily the training that Naval personnel have, kicked in and their rescue was successful. We are grateful to the people of Upolu Samoa for their valuable aid and assistance during the rescue too.
The loss of the Manawanui is severe for the New Zealand Navy because this 21-year -old ship was reasonably new to New Zealand and its technology allowed it to perform many important functions including marine surveys and salvage operations.
It was unfortunate that this accident came just after a very successful South Pacific Defence Ministers Meeting at the Devonport Naval Base concluded with a renewed commitment to regional security of all types.
The meeting of Defence Ministers and military personnel from Australia, Chile, Fiji, France, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Tonga discussed topics including protecting our maritime areas, improving the effectiveness of our Defence Forces and adapting to the impacts of climate change.
The meetings also included the role of emerging technology, in responding to challenges that include humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, combating maritime security threats including illegal fishing and transnational crime and having a collective approach to improving the effectiveness of the region’s Defence Forces.
It was great to finish the South Pacific Defence Ministers’ Meeting knowing there was a renewed commitment to collective action and leadership and a sense of having shared values to meet shared challenges.
This is of importance to all of us in the South Pacific as we live, work and support each other’s trade and tourism to forge a secure and prosperous future.
Best wishes,
Judith
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NZ National Party - 41 Pipitea St, Wellington 6011, New Zealand
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