Hon DAVID PARKER: I'm sure that many members will have read with interest the report that came from the Infrastructure Commission this week, which found that New Zealand's "prohibitively expensive housing market could have been prevented by congestion mitigation policies and less restrictive planning rules." The commission says that when urban planning policies limit development up in the centre of the city or out at the fringes, it leads to both reduced housing supply and higher housing prices. They also note that unless the planning system is very specific about prioritising housing and infrastructure as core objectives, amenity concerns about urban and natural character will prevail over building the homes that New Zealanders need. The commission is correct, and prioritising a massive increase in housing infrastructure is a focus of the planning system reforms.