In contrast to the partisan wrangling of Question Time and the general debate which preceded it, Members Day was practically a group singing of Kumbaya, as MPs congratulated their rivals for their excellent Bills.
This was a day when things got done, from the historic progression of the Modern Slavery Bill (the first time a member’s Bill has bypassed the ballot and got on to the Order Paper due to having enough support from MPs of all stripes) to Bills covering topics as diverse as international money transfers and drug overdoses.
One Bill of strong Dunedin interest, the Residential Tenancies (Registration of Boarding House Landlords) Amendment Bill, also passed its first reading,
This Bill was once in the name of Dunedin Labour MP Rachel Brooking but, having had the good luck to have her number drawn from the biscuit tin, Brooking then passed the Bill on to her colleague Jenny Salesa.
The Bill sets out to do something so simple it is a wonder that no-one thought of it before: should it eventually pass, all boarding house landlords will have to be registered.
In fact, Parliament has thought of this before — it held an inquiry into the sector in 2011, which found that many boarding houses fell far short of the most basic of standards and recommended a register be set up.
However, like many a report recommendation, it never quite happened. In the meantime disasters such as the 2023 Loafers Lodge fire in Wellington happened, in which five people died.
Boarding houses are specifically designated by law: they have to be home to at least six tenants at any one time and, unlike a flat or house share, the tenancy is expected to last for at least 28 days — as opposed to a longer term lease such as students or professionals might sign up for.
Some boarding houses can be quite high-end, catering for professionals on short-term contracts. But many are the housing of last resort for transients who cannot find a permanent home.
And, as Salesa pointed out, there have been issues in the South too.
‘‘Some of you may remember that, in Dunedin, the Otago Daily Times had a story that they called the ‘Houses of Horror’, where they investigated and found homeless people who were living in dilapidated boarding houses, described as one of the darkest corners of our housing system. These stories are not isolated; they are warnings, warnings for all of us here in Parliament about what happens when vulnerable people are housed in places that agencies cannot easily track, regulators cannot easily target, and the public cannot easily identify.’’
If the ODT, and the excellent team who reported this story, have helped move the dial a little on this, we are only too pleased to have been of help.
Southland MP Joseph Mooney is chairman of the Social Services and Community select committee, which will now consider the Bill, thanks to his National Party agreeing to support it.
‘‘Boarding houses provide accommodation for some of New Zealand’s most vulnerable renters, including people with limited housing options, people with mental health issues, substance abuse issues, poor credit history, or involvement with the justice system,’’ Mooney said.
‘‘I worked as a lawyer, and I certainly saw people moving through that system and I saw some of the housing they were going through, some of which was of a very high standard and some which was not.’’
While voting in favour, Mooney warned that any regulatory response must be tightly targeted, avoid red tape, and focus on lifting safety and quality outcomes in boarding houses: ‘‘We want it to be really targeted, and we want it to be effective.’’
Mooney’s night was not done though, as he was also to lend his party’s support to Act New Zealand MP Laura McClure’s Deepfake Digital Harm and Exploitation Bill.
Some may recall that McClure caused a stir in the House by holding up an image of ‘‘herself’’ naked: it was actually the creation of one of the many AI programmes on the market which can be used to ‘‘nudify’’ people.
At the time she expressed strong concerns about the harm such technology could do to the vulnerable.
McClure is a first-term MP and rookies seldom get the chance to legislate, but the luck of the draw has meant that she has now had several meetings with sector groups and legal experts as she tries to hone her first draft into effective and applicable law.
While the first reading debate was adjourned, all parties have indicated they will vote Aye.
Unusually for a Bill which hopes to amend both the Crimes Act and the Harmful Digital Communications Act, the Deepfake Bill is also being assigned to the social services committee: it is hearing Green MP Kahurangi Carter’s Bill concerning fair use, satire and parody, the debate over which will raise some similar issues to those occasioned by McClure’s Bill.
As Mooney pointed out, legislating about deepfakes needs careful analysis and consideration to avoid unintended consequences.
‘‘The National Party has always had a big priority on victims and on ensuring we protect people who could be victims and preventing victimisation. We’ve done a lot around this in, for example, the Stalking and Harassment Amendment Act, which created a new stalking and harassment offence. This is an important piece of work that I really congratulate Laura for bringing it before the House.’’
The last word goes to McClure, who also had harm uppermost in her mind.
‘‘Deepfaking somebody into explicit material is one of the worst and most horrible things that you can actually do,’’ she said.
‘‘We’re not talking about a little bit of fun. We’re not talking about somebody deepfaking you into a bikini for a joke; we’re talking about some of the most horrendous things I have seen ... it has this dark side and there are individuals who seek to exploit each other with this.
‘‘I know that this Bill is getting the support of the House, and that means an awful lot to me, but let’s be real: this means an awful lot to all of our kids and future kids that this will protect.’’
