2. GEORGINA BEYER (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Housing
What steps is he taking to ensure families have access to quality, affordable housing?
Hon CHRIS CARTER (Minister of Housing) Link to this
Budget 2006 takes the total funding for State house acquisition to $659 million over the next 3 years, when we plan to acquire an additional 2,000 State houses. The Labour-led Government believes quality, affordable housing is fundamental to the health and well-being of families and communities—unlike National, which sold 13,000 State houses in the 1990s, mostly to developers, not tenants.
I have seen a report that describes the building of State houses as “economic vandalism”, and states that land has a lot more potential than just somewhere to build a bunch of State houses. I have also seen a report that states that housing policy is not important, does not require a party leader’s time, and does not have financial implications. The first statement was from John Key, who, by the way, grew up in a State house, and the second admission from Don Brash confirmed that the National Party cares only about money, not people.
Tariana TuriaTēnā tātou te Whare. What strategies has the Minister developed to ensure a Māori person earning the median income of $23,600 can service a mortgage of $275,000, which is the median price for a house in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Gisborne region, at 8.2 percent over 25 years?
This Government has embarked on addressing the needs of low-income people in a wide variety of ways—not least of all the Working for Families package, which brings a lot more cash into low-income families.
Hon Dr Michael Cullen Link to this
Has the Minister received any reports of any National Party MPs who grew up in very expensive houses opposing building very expensive houses in their electorate, or is it only people who grew up in State houses opposing State housing developments that he has heard about?