Dear John,

Science Innovation and Technology policy announcement

Following on from our  policy to Electrify New Zealand, Christopher Luxon and I made the latest science, innovation and technology policy announcement around Biotechnology and ending the effective ban on gene editing and genetic modification in New Zealand, last Sunday. This has enormous potential and opportunities for lowering greenhouse gas emissions, reaching our climate change goals, making New Zealand more prosperous and growing our economy so we can afford our public services.

Our National Party policy will allow field trials of genetic research while continuing to support research in labs. Australia, Japan, the US, the UK, Argentina, the EU, and other developed countries are safely embracing biotech, and National's policy is to allow New Zealand to do exactly the same.

There are good reasons for allowing field research. For example, at the Crown Research Institute Agricultural Research (Ag Research), they developed a new generation ryegrass, with the potential to lower greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. However, Ag Research was forced offshore to conduct the field trials in the United States and Australia as both countries have less prohibitive laws. This is costly and inefficient as New Zealand conditions around soil and climate are different and there are all sorts of regulatory issues to comply with for trials in other countries as well as the ones actually around growing the trial GM or GE crop.

As another example, the Kiwi company Lanzatech, developed GE microbes that can convert pollution from smokestacks into low emissions fuels - an amazing breakthrough. They left New Zealand in 2014, partly because our regulatory barriers prevent the use of genetically modified organisms, which are the key elements of Lanzatech's biofuel production. Lanzatech is now worth $US1.4billion.

These are real life examples of the effect of New Zealand's old, outdated but current GE and GM laws.

National will establish a dedicated biotech regulator to regulate all forms of genetically edited or modified organisms. It will decide whether to approve imports and trials of GE and GM as well as managing questions of ethics.

Only three evictions from 10,000 complaints to Kainga Ora/Housing New Zealand

It came out this week that Kainga Ora/ Housing New Zealand have received 10,000 complaints about their tenants from across New Zealand and it appears that only three tenants and their families have actually been evicted as a consequence of their unneighbourly, anti-social behaviour.

My Electorate office receives many such complaints and although Kainga Ora Housing New Zealand has apparently changed its ‘no evictions during Covid lockdowns policy’ it appears that eviction is still the exception.

The scenario where a neighbour and in some cases, an entire neighbourhood,  is the victim of ongoing long term intimidation and disturbance from state tenants who are extremely noisy, rude, inconsiderate with their parties and loud music, is common. Complaints also include trespassing, blocking access to the street or private driveways and people acting in an anti-social and even violent ways against their neighbours.

Now it has been reported that a neighbour- a victim of a Kainga Ora tenant, has been awarded $3,000 in compensation after making a complaint to the Tenancy Tribunal. The Tribunal found the person’s quite enjoyment of their home had been breached as they suffered abusive behaviour and language, intimidation, disruption due to excessive noise and trespass resulting in fouling of her garden by both people and unrestrained dogs. Despite Kainga Ora’s promises to make it stop,  the behaviours continued even after 90 complaints were received. Kainga Ora failed to relocate their troublesome tenant more than a year later. Meanwhile the bad behaviour was reported to have escalated with audio recordings, police reports and evidence from the installation of a CCTV security camera, proving this.

The Tenancy Tribunal decided based on this that Kāinga Ora–Homes and Communities must pay the Auckland tenant $3000 for ongoing breaches of their comfort, privacy and quiet enjoyment of their home.

Kainga Ora say they are committed to maintaining peaceful communities and ensuring their tenants comply with this.

The judgement of the Tenancy Tribunal strikes a note of sense by underscoring the need to protect neighbourhoods from being destroyed by a single tenant who doesn’t understand how to live in and be part of, a community.

I  hope this judgement will lead to more that bring relief to neighbours whose peaceful communities are shattered by the unfortunately anti-social behaviour of a few state tenants that the landlord fails to control.

Future Development Strategy – Auckland Council consultation

Auckland Council has opened consultation on its Future Development Strategy that sets out the big picture vision for how and where we should grow over the next 30 years to achieve the best outcomes for Auckland. You may want to see what the Strategy says and have your say on https://akhaveyoursay.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/future-development-strategy?tool=survey_tool#tool_tab

Best wishes for your sunny winter weekend,

Judith