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Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith is welcoming the technical amendments recommended at select committee to the Social Housing Reform Bill, which makes fundamental changes to the way the Government delivers housing assistance to those most in need.

“This bill will help grow the provision of community social housing, as well as focusing Housing New Zealand on high needs tenants,” Dr Smith says.

Changes to KiwiSaver and Welcome Home Loans which take effect tomorrow will help first home buyers get into the market, Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“The changes will help thousands of families with their deposit for their first home and provide a guarantee for their mortgage. The changes will increase eligibility for the schemes, doubling the amount of home buyers receiving the deposit subsidy from 4,700 to 10,000 a year, and trebling the number of Welcome Home Loans available from 845 to 2,500 a year,” he says.

Families with children at risk of rheumatic fever will be fast-tracked to the top of the waiting list for state housing to reduce their risk of contracting the preventable disease, Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

“This important change to the criteria for state housing will give priority to families at risk of rheumatic fever and help the Government achieve its health goal of a two-thirds reduction in incidence rates by 2017,” he says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is calling on Aucklanders to keep an eye out for one of the most invasive bird species in the world to help eradicate the pests.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is welcoming today’s conviction of a Blenheim man over the killing of 23 New Zealand fur seals on the Kaikoura coast in late 2010.

“This was an obscene crime that would offend all New Zealanders who care for our native wildlife. This callous attack needed to be prosecuted to send a clear message that senseless and deliberate violence against animals will not be tolerated,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced a $4.5 million extension to the Department of Conservation partnership with Air New Zealand with a new focus on marine protection.

"Air New Zealand's commitment to support DOC with an additional $4.5 million is a huge boost and comes on top of the $2.9 million committed in 2012. In total, Air New Zealand will be committing $7.4 million to conservation, $5.4 million on terrestrial and $2 million on marine as part of its partnership with DOC," Dr Smith says.

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith tonight announced at the Habitat for Humanity Annual Conference in Auckland that Community Housing Aotearoa will receive $452,000 of funding over the next two years.

“Community Housing Aotearoa is the representative body that binds our community social housing sector together. It plays an important role in aiding the development and representation of community social housing providers, as well as contributing to policy development, sector training, and research,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith stands by his role in decisions made by the Department of Conservation over its submission to the Board of Inquiry on the Tukituki Catchment proposal.

“A draft 34 page submission was prepared by DOC staff in early July raising questions about the nutrient modelling of the proposal. I have consistently said I never saw this draft until Tuesday of this week and I stand by that,” Dr Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced one new appointment and three re-appointments to the Guardians of the Lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau.

“The Guardians were established under the Conservation Act as a result of the Save Manapouri Campaign and have a prominent place in the history of conservation in New Zealand. They report annually to the Government on matters arising from the environmental, ecological and social impacts of the power schemes on lakes Manapouri, Monowai and Te Anau,” Dr Smith says.

A dead dolphin, likely to be a critically endangered Maui’s was found yesterday by a recreational fisher at Glinks Gully, 15 kilometres south of Dargaville, within the North Island West Coast Marine Mammal Sanctuary.

“I am saddened by this reported Maui’s dolphin death because with an estimated population of just 55 adults, the loss of even one of these mammals puts at further risk the survival of their species,” Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith today presented the country’s most prestigious conservation award, the Loder Cup, to Christchurch botanist Nicholas Head.

“Nick Head is a very deserving winner of the country’s oldest conservation award. He has been a tireless advocate for Canterbury’s unique plant life, both through his professional work with the Department of Conservation and as a volunteer and advocate for numerous trusts and organisations,” Dr Smith says.

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today joined with Prime Minister John Key to officially open the Rangers Park temporary accommodation village in Christchurch’s eastern suburbs.

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today welcomed Auckland Council’s unanimous support for the Auckland Housing Accord to urgently increase the supply and affordability of housing in Auckland.

“Today’s adoption of the Accord and notification of the draft Unitary Plan by Auckland Council maintains the momentum for our housing supply reforms,” Dr Smith says.

Corrections Minister Anne Tolley and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith say there will be great benefits for the Canterbury rebuild, following the official opening of the Rolleston Working Prison Construction Yard by Prime Minister John Key.

A partnership between Corrections and Housing New Zealand will see prisoners and community offenders’ refurbish 150 earthquake-damaged red zones houses over the next five years.

More than 400 offenders will gain training in construction skills such as carpentry, plastering, painting and decorating, and roofing and joinery.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith tonight officially launched the Hauraki Gulf Marine Spatial Planning process to help shape the gulf over the next 30 years.

A new Conservation Park on Great Barrier Island and a pest eradication programme on Rakitu Island in the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park were today proposed by Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Auckland Central MP Nikki Kaye, to mark the beginning of Conservation Week.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith is proposing a 350 square kilometre extension to the set net fishing ban off the coast of Taranaki to protect Maui’s dolphin.

“Maui’s are the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin. They are critically endangered with their numbers down to just 55 adults. New Zealand needs to do everything practically possible to ensure their survival,” Dr Smith says.

Mr Speaker, I move that the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill be now read a third time.

This bill, introduced as part of Budget 2013, is about enabling tens of thousands of homes to be built.

It is about helping kiwi families to realise the dream of owning their own home.

It’s about supporting the New Zealand economic recovery by reducing the financial risks of Auckland’s house price bubble.

The Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill passed its third reading in Parliament today 63 votes to 56 and will come into effect Monday 16 September.

“This new law will deliver tens of thousands of new homes. The increased land supply will help take the pressure off the over-heated Auckland housing market and help the economic recovery. It will enable tens of thousands of kiwi families to realise the dream of owning their own home,” Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy are requiring that all fishing vessels in the Southern Blue Whiting fishery around the Campbell Islands use Sea Lion Exclusion Devices after 16 New Zealand Sea Lion fatalities in the past three weeks.

Tonight’s launch of a primetime TV series that showcases the most spectacular parts of New Zealand’s conservation estate will inspire people to get out and explore our own backyard, Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

“The ‘Wild About New Zealand’ series, produced by NHNZ (formerly known as Natural History New Zealand), profiles some of our country’s most pristine National Parks and destinations from the mountains of the Southern Alps to the seas of the Hauraki Gulf Marine Park,” Dr Smith says.

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today welcomed Parliament’s passing 63 votes to 57 of the second reading of the Housing Accords and Special Housing Areas Bill.

“This bill confronts land supply shortages in cities like Auckland and will see central and local government working closely together to free up thousands of new sections for housing developments,” Dr Smith says.

Housing New Zealand’s firm line on criminal offending and dishonesty has freed up 1000 houses since the Government changed its policy in 2008, Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today in releasing the figures for 2012/13.

Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith today announced the appointment of Dr Allan Freeth as chair, and Ian Kearney and Jeff Meltzer as members of the board of Housing New Zealand.

“Dr Allan Freeth is an astute businessman with a social conscience which is exactly the type of person we need at the helm of the country’s largest landlord,” Dr Smith says.