Preface – Chief Human Rights Commissioner Paul Hunt Some years ago, I was invited to give a talk on human rights in Ireland. When I said that everyone in the room had a right to a decent home, a woman shouted from the back of the room, “That’s the best kept secret in Ireland!” I explained that both governments in Ireland – north and south – have agreed to be legally bound in international law by this human right and observed that some Irish and Scottish organisations were explicitly using human rights to improve housing conditions. When I became Chief Human Rights Commissioner, I found that the right to a decent home was pretty much invisible in Aotearoa. As in Ireland, it was the best kept secret in the country. Our two-year Housing Inquiry aimed to shift the dial. Today, the right to a decent home is more widely known in Aotearoa than ever before. It’s understood that this human right requires governments to do all they reasonably can to create the conditions whereby everyone can enjoy access to a safe, warm, dry, affordable home. In other words, the right to a decent home isn’t idealistic – just the reverse. It demands rational, evidence-based housing policies that deliver for everyone. The right to a decent home is constructive and hopeful. It provides tools for public officials, individuals, and communities. This closing report devotes a chapter to how policy makers can integrate the right to a decent home and te Tiriti o Waitangi into their housing policies. This does not entail a major departure from what policy makers are already doing. Rather, the right to a decent home can help to improve and strengthen what policy makers have already embarked upon. The report also provides tools for individuals, communities, hapū, and iwi to help them advance the right to a decent home and te Tiriti o Waitangi. Crucially, the human right dignifies individuals and empowers communities. I acknowledge the incredible people who are tackling the housing crisis in Aotearoa: dedicated officials, builders developing new homes, hapū and iwi establishing kāinga on their whenua, housing and social service providers, non-governmental organisations, advocates, community organisations and – most of all – the determination of everyone who has been let down, frustrated, and hurt by the country’s deeply flawed housing system. We designed our Housing Inquiry to provide a safe space for people who are most affected and seldom heard. We have tried to convey, honestly and accurately, their disappointment and pain, for example, in our report on the emergency housing system. We also heard their hopes for a system that dignifies people and shows manaakitanga, not indifference. Our publications have identified and applied the key features of the right to a decent home and te Tiriti o Waitangi. When explaining that one of the features is independent review, I’ve been told not to worry about that because housing is reviewed all the time. But this misses the point. Independent review is required in relation to binding human rights commitments and I can assure you that very rarely happens in Aotearoa. I’ve also been told that there’s no need for independent review because dispassionate review will do the job. This, too, misses the point. It really 3