“With thousands of homes needing repairs in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle, ACT is calling on the Government to adopt our policy of a Materials Equivalence Register,” says ACT’s Housing spokesperson Brooke van Velden.

“When I questioned Housing Minister Megan Woods in Parliament today, she said that the Government would consider all options. If she wants to avoid a repeat of last year’s plasterboard shortage, ACT’s register would be a good start.

“She admitted that while there is a lot of recording to be done before the scale of damage can be confirmed, there are already thousands of homes throughout Auckland, Tairawhiti and Hawke’s Bay that will likely require repairs following extreme weather events.

“This will put a huge strain on supplies. Last year the construction industry had to put the brakes on because of a plasterboard shortage, brought on by some Gib factories closing for maintenance and a boom in construction. With all the building that is going to need to happen now, there is a chance that materials shortages are going to happen all over again.

“There are good substitutes for many building materials. We just need councils to accept them. This policy will require them to, making it easier for to rebuild.

“How it would work: MBIE would be tasked with keeping a Materials Equivalence Register. A material could get on the register in one of two ways. The first way is that an applicant would apply to have a material deemed equivalent. That might be an importer or producer of an equivalent material. The second way is that MBIE would proactively assess Material Equivalents in foreign countries, starting with Australia, and deeming any products available there as equivalents.

“The Minister says it’s not that simple to create a register. Well Minister, when the Government doesn’t complicate things with bureaucracy they’re often more simple than you think. In fact a recent report from Castalia found that it is the layers upon layers of government regulation and intervention that causes material shortages.

“This is a practical solution that will provide better outcomes almost immediately. It will also lead to more competition and choice in the building materials market over time.

“ACT is listening to the issues people are raising and coming up with practical solutions to address them. That’s what Kiwis need to build back better from Cyclone Gabrielle.”

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